Prisoner Wife
by Illegal Sleep
Summary: Even the most jubilant of people can be brought down. Years of constant slaps of reality in her face, Sakura Haruno goes through the hardship of obtaining the most desired, and caring for him in his confinement.
1. Chapter 1: Prisoner Wife

**AN: Hello everyone, well, out of bordome of the night and not being able to sleep I kind of wrote what is going to be the first chapter of the new SasuSaku fic I was thinking of after watching this commerical. Hopefully it will be self explanitory what's going on. xD**

** For now, it will be this one chapter, to see what you guys think of and such. And see how much response I get on this while I finish up my ItachixOC fic. So while I'm writing that I'll be writing chapters of this and when the other story is finished, I'm hoping to have enough chapters to post weekly so there is like no waiting for like four, five months for the next update. So, for now, there will only be one chapter for this story. It might take a while to post the second chapter (if this gets good feedback) so please wait pateintly and please tell me what you think. :]**

* * *

There was the soft pitter patter of rain gliding down on to the buildings outside rang through the villager's ears. Eyes were on the woman walking down the street. As she passed by a cloud of whispers started amongst the civilians, she's changed so much over the years; she wasn't the girl who used to be. Her bright pink hair as grown dull and lifeless, just like the look in her eyes. It was because of _him. _They spoke ill things of her, or rather her decision and how she did it. Every since that day, they all looked at her with disdain in their eyes. "Good afternoon," a guard greeted her as she approached the double steel doors.

"It's hardly a good afternoon." Her voice was dazed.

The guard stuttered, "Y-your right ma'am."

Emerald eyes eased shut as she wandered inside. The girl took off her rain coat and set it to the side. A basket in her hands she made it down the hallway, all the way to the solitary confinement where there was on prisoner she visited every day. She was always bringing him things, but… that's because she loved him. "You're here." A deep distance voice echoed throughout the halls.

"Of course I am, and I brought your favorite." Usually, a smile would grace across her face but not anymore. Such a lonely look was in her eyes.

There was no response from him, "Sasuke." Her hearted pounded against her chest.

"Sakura." His cool response rung through her ears like honey.

She sat outside the door and brought her knees close to her body and slid the food underneath the table. "How many times have I told you, move on."

"I've worked too hard, Sasuke. I've done things I regret but I…I did it all for you." Her voice was shaky.

"Even after all these years, you're still crying?" Sasuke mocked.

A light chuckle escaped her lips and eased her optic shut, "Who ever said I was crying. I don't think I can anymore. All my tears I could possible shed, were over you."

How poetic. Sakura brushed her fingers through her hair. She eased her head to the side to glance inside of the cell, to see his face. There was a small glimmer of hope in her eyes, "Back when I was seventeen I believed in a happy ending for team seven, I still do. Only a couple more months, Sasuke. You'll be out and… and we can start our life together finally."

There was no answer from Sasuke. Just as expected but she has come to grow used to that. There were a lot of things she did not mind anymore. Once again, it's because she has changed. Her fingers curled through the bars and Sasuke brought his up to intertwine with hers. "I've waited several years of my life. I can wait a few more months Sasuke."

The female felt her fingers being pulled in a little more. The serene feeling of his lips skimmed across her translucent flesh. Sakura eased her head against the wall. How much longer could she take of this before she would completely go insane? Many asked her that, but never before did she answer them. Sakura was a wife of a prisoner. This is how she lived her life. At least until they would release to him. From the spunky young girl she was, to a cold hearted ruthless kunoichi, this is what the lifestyle has brought upon her. "Sasuke… how… how many years has it been?"

"Almost nine…"

"In three more months, we'll finally be together." Once again, her voice was shaky.

Sasuke gulped gently, "Are you crying?" he asked.

The pink haired kunoichi spoke bitterly, "I told you, I don't think I can cry anymore."

"Hm." Sasuke merely hummed...

**Nine years ago…**

_I finally have come to my conclusion. I will leave the village this time. I know I can't kill him. I really realized how much I love him. That's the only reason why I couldn't send that kunai through his heart. With my intelligence, and strength and determination I will work to get Sasuke back on my own. I can't always depend on Naruto. I've realized this many times before. Now it's finally time I do something about it. I just won't go about killing him this time. I'll work my way into his heart, I have to, I…I absolutely have to! _

Glass shattered upon the floor. The old team seven picture had fallen out of Sakura's grasp as she held it. Tears soon splattered upon that wooden floor of her room right next to the broken glass and landing onto the sensitive picture. Sakura furiously wiped her tears away from her eyes as she reached for the picture itself. The pink haired kunoichi stuffed it inside of her shirt as she held closely to the bag. "Mother, father…I love you. Naruto, I'm going to miss you… and… Tsunade… thank you… for everything."

In the moon light night, she disappeared.

In the dim lighted morning the entire neighborhood was woken up by the loud sobbing noises of Mrs. Haruno. It hadn't taken long for the village to find out what the uproar was about. They just weren't expecting what the cause was. All Mrs. Haruno did was go check up on her daughter, fearing there was something wrong. It was a mothers senses to know when their children were distraught. The note found beside her pillow had been crumbled and had several tear stains upon it.

_Dear mother, when you read this note, I will have been long gone. I know I wasn't able to say good bye to you, or father. Nor did I even get to say good bye to Naruto, or Ino. But, these past few weeks I have done a lot of thinking. I'm still not happy with myself. I'm considerably weak. I'm tired in following in the shadows of Naruto. I've been nothing but a burden on my team, my other comrades. The only way I could find myself is leaving the village. So, please, don't alert Tsunade to come after me. I love you with all my heart mother. Please respect my wishes. I'll come home eventually. Tell Naruto not to worry, tell him to keep training and get stronger. And please, tell Ino she has been the best influence in my life ever. Of course, Tsunade, I owe her so much but in my current state, I'll never be able to repay her back for all she has done for me… _

"Oh my baby…" Mrs. Haruno moaned.

Everyone crowded around in the room as she broke down into tears. All of the rookie nine stood there in complete and utter shock. Naruto and Ino with tears in their eyes, "You stupid billboard brow…how… how can you be so selfish."

Tsunade sat down on the couch and pulled Mrs. Haruno into her bosom. Comforting her. Her golden brown eyes eased shut. She already knew what was going through her students mind. "God dammit, Sakura."

Naruto fell to the floor bringing his hands to his eyes. He felt there was something he could have done to prevent this. He should have been there more for her. He shouldn't have been so selfish. There could have been a way to prevent this all. "So now what…" Shikamaru asked grimly.

Tsunade sucked in her tears though she wanted to cry over the loss of her student. Sakura has good intentions, "All we can do is wait. She won't be considered a missing nin. At least, not yet."

It all depended how she played this out….

The sun was threatening to go over the mountain. Sakura was long gone from land of the fire. She was boarding going to a place near where she had last seen Sasuke. Where spotted him. The kunoichi had set up camp for the night as she was making preparations. All she could do was hope that this would work. The main plan was clear all in itself but how she was going about this time was a little bit different. Last night Sakura had done all her thinking and was ready for whatever obstacles that remained in her way. She stood there in the middle of the circle where her fire was burning intensely. The warmth was inviting and watching those flames dance reminded her of her fire will. No matter how drastic things would get, she would continue to remain the same girl she is now. _It's so cold outside…_ she thought.

After finishing the last of her note, she tied it onto the very large cats' leg. "Sniff this."

During her last encounter with Sasuke, had had snagged a piece of his clothing. "You should be able to find Sasuke or Madara now. Bring this note to them."

"Got it." The cat responded.

Though, it sat there cleaning itself for a moment. Sakura pinched her eyebrows together, "Well, go on, go."

The cat stood up then and bounced off into the trees. With a breath easing past her soft lips, she stared up towards the dark sky now. The first star was twinkling in the sky. Her hands cupped together, _please give me the strength to do this… _

Sleep was starting to take over her. Though, she was absolutely afraid that if she fell asleep someone would come attack her while she drifted off to lucid dreams. Chills ran down her spine in a violent wave. If she did end up falling asleep when she would awake in the morning she would know if her note made it that far or not…

Madara sat there in a tree overlooking the scenery. It was well into the midnight hours and Sasuke had turned in the for the night. There was a lot on his mind right now, the ninja war was no declared. His prized possession was Sasuke; he was the key vital part of the plan. Without Sasuke, this could not work. Of course, thanks to the reappearance of Kabuto some plans had to be changed thanks to him. Thinking about it, the immortal shinobi sneered behind that orange swirled masked of his. Being outside made his thoughts flow more clearly into that devious little mind of his. They continued to swarm like angry bees but suddenly the buzzing in his head stopped. "Hm?" he peered through the single hole of his mask.

Madara's sharingan eyes blazed deeply to the silhouette that was moving through the foliage. It was elegant, and in the shape of an animal. "Gee, I finally found out."

The immortal Uchiha got into a defensive stance, "Who are you?"

"Calm down, I'm not dangerous. I'm just here to deliver a note." From the shadows the large cat emerged from trees.

Around the neck was a note attached. Immediately he could tell this came from a shinobi who was from the leaf village. He looked down to open the note, _My name is Sakura Haruno. I was a kunoichi of the leaf village and once Sasuke's partner during our genin days. I have sent this note to you, to ask you something. I want to aid Sasuke and his goals. I'm an excellent healer and I can fix the damage Sasuke does to his eyes. I saw how recklessly he abused his powers, I could tell. I also have an excellent basis for being a very well of genjutsu user. I'll be waiting around the coordinates that I've place on the back of this paper. If you're interested though, send Sasuke and Sasuke alone._

Not visible but to anyone in his own mind, a smirk creased upon his face, "Interesting. You can go."

The large cat stared for a moment but the vicious flare in his chakra had said different then. Quickly the large cat jumped eloquently through the brush. Madara simply tossed the note to the side and stared out towards the darkness. He walked back inside. "So, she wants to help Sasuke, eh? I guess we'll see what is going to happens. I'll leave it up to him to see what he wants to do."

Though it was not wise to disturb Sasuke when he said he was going to turn in for the night, this was an important enough matter. Madara wandered down the candle lit hallways. All the way down to the door of Sasuke's room, "Sasuke," he called from outside the door.

From the inside he could hear the younger Uchiha stir. Madara only had a few moments of waiting before the door creaked open, "What." His voice was dangerous.

"No need to be so irritated," he put his gloved hands up in that surrender position, "I have some interesting news for you, Sasuke."

"And what could that be?" Sasuke wasn't interested.

The immortal Uchiha crossed his arms against his chest, "Apparently a medic teammate of yours from the old days wants to aid you."

"Sakura?"

"I suppose that's her." Madara shrugged a bit.

"I'm not interested. She tried telling me last time that she wanted to leave the leaf village. Yet, she turned around and tried to kill me but I knew what was behind her mind. She's stupid to think I could possibly believe her the second time." His eyes narrowed deeply as he was about to shut the door on Madara's face.

With a loud thud, Madara stopped Sasuke from slamming the door shut, "Don't be so hasty Sasuke. She has given her coordinates. I'll be in the background if she tries to do anything funny. So, give it a chance."

Sasuke pursed his lips together as he thought about it for a moment more, "Fine then, in the morning we will go down there. But, this time if she proves to try to pull the same trick again I will kill her."

Madara shrugged his shoulders again, "Fine by me."

He let go of the door, allowing Sasuke to shove his door back closed.

Birds chirped wildly in the early morning. As you can say, the early bird gets the worm. To earlier if you asked Sakura. She groaned gently as she moved along the hard ground of the outdoors. Slowly she eased herself up and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. The sun has yet to spill into the forest. Yet, she felt now was the best time for her to wake up. She was hopefully waiting for someone today. If this wouldn't work she would just try another tactic that she had in her mind. Her lips fell open gently as a yawn came from her lips. The sixteen year old girl wandered towards the river close by. She splashed water on her face, put some in a canteen and made it back to her camp. She dumped water over the fire and watched the puff of smoke fly up into the sky. Sakura couldn't help but watch as the thin wisp of air danced its way up. The after smell of a fire being put out never was a pleasant smell. It was sure one hell of a way to wake up.

Sakura has been waiting in the same spot for several hours now. The sun was well into the sky, making its way to mid morning. Yet, there was no sign of the people she was waiting for. Has that damned cat even found Madara yet? What was she even doing here, "God, I'm an idiot. What am I thinking? Sasuke is not going to consult with me after the stunt I pulled the first time. He…he even tried killing me. This is just going to make him even more suspicious of me. God dammit, this is way too confusing." She growled to herself.

"You're truly a sight to see…" A voice filled the air that sent chills racing down her spine.

The small hair on the back of her neck went to attention as she quickly stood up. Cautiously she looked around. That voice had sounded like, "…Sasuke." She whispered.

From the large bush, Sasuke emerged. So, he has come then? He has come to see her then? Getting a good look at Sasuke, her hands clutched tightly. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands as her heart went racing. Sweat started to bead down the side of her face. It dripped off of her tender jaw line. Sasuke watched her stand there in her nervous wreck of herself. "So, you came." Quickly she tried to change her tone to exude confidence.

"Yes, what do you want." He was quick to ask.

_Gee, way to beat around the bush…_Sakura thought rather sarcastically then.

"I have left the leave village." The pink haired kunoichi announce.

Sasuke looked around a bit. He arched an elegant eyebrow towards her. His deep coal eyes stared deep into her soul. There was no sign of her head band with the leaf village symbol on it. Maybe this time she really was serious. There was only one way he could tell, "Come here." He ordered.

"Uh…" her mouth dropped a little bit.

Sasuke had given her this look, he was waiting. Sakura gulped lightly as she hesitantly moved forward. Step by step, she got closer to Sasuke. Finally, she was face to face with him. Yet, she found that she could not look the Uchiha in his eyes. "Look me in the eyes." He demanded still.

This sent her heart racing. Her eyes peered up to his dark soulless eyes. Looking into them, she got this sense that he was no himself. _He's not the Sasuke I knew a few years ago. There is something darker about him. Something I wasn't able to tell when I ran into him a few weeks ago. It's so… sinister. Is… is my plan going to even work? _Once again Sakura found herself doubting her abilities as a Kunoichi. Even after all of these years, "Kill me."

Sakura looked bewildered, "What?"

"I said kill me." And he was dead serious too.

Sasuke looked at the fuddled expression across her face. It made her look stupid to him. "Kill me as if you were trying to kill an enemy. I know you have the strength, Sakura. I know you have been trained by Tsunade."

Now why would he giver her that open window to kill him? It was obvious she didn't have the guts to kill him in the first place. Whatever emotions resided in her from when they were younger, were still there. If she really went to kill him, and really did try to land this blade through a vital organ, it meant she was serious about this. She would be willing to take any order he would give her. That is why he asked the pink haired girl to kill him. Sasuke even pulled the sword from his sheath and handed it to her. She fumbled for a moment to grab onto the hilt of the sword. What was Sasuke thinking?

Sakura stood there in silence. Her stare was burning on to the blade in her hands. It seemed her heart was still racing rapidly against her chest. Now her hands began to get a little bit on the clammy side, and she looked back up to Sasuke. He stood there, crossing his arms against his chest. "Well, I'm waiting…"


	2. Chapter 2: Torn

**Why, hello there fellow SasuSaku fans. :D I couldn't come up with chapter 24 quit yet for my Itachi story, so I decided to write this chapter out. Cause, it still might be a while before that story is done. BTW, if you like Itachi, you should totally go check that story out. XD Anyway, hope you enjoy this and review. :]**

Morning had disappeared so quickly. With each passing hour of the morning the heat grew more intense. The plants moved along with the suns movements. When it rose they reached towards the side and moved along during the day to soak of those loveable rays. Early afternoon was beginning to burn down. Around twelve and three was when the sun was most fervent in this part. Birds were singing as they were flying in the sky. Small rodents scampered on the soil into near by bushes. They seemed to stray away from the clearing where a shinobi and a kunoichi were standing at. The wind tugged at a few leaves. Tearing off of the branch they swirled between the space of the young man with dark hair and the young woman with pink hair. There was a pull of tension in the space they were standing in. "Say that again." Sakura uttered.

"I told you," annoyance was clear in his tone, "Kill me."

Discombobulated, verb. Definition, to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate. That's what Sakura felt surging through her body. Her entire body was at a complete stand still. Eyes were open wide as her mouth was too. She fell so silent that she was beginning to hear her heart clobbering inside of her ears. Fear and anxiety coursed through her veins. Uchiha Sasuke has just asked Haruno Sakura to kill him? That was just sending a kunai through her heart. It ached and dropped into the pits of her stomach. She swore she could feel tears beginning to gather at the corner of her eyes at this request. But, in order to gain his trust she had to attempt to kill him. Sasuke had stared to her with such indifference. Sakura breathed in deeply, "Fine." she whispered.

Finally Sakura made her move and made it swift. Her hands reached for her shuriken and she tossed them his way. "Weak."

The girl furrowed her brows and she wound her fist back and launched it forward. Her fists had been balled up to send a punch. If it had landed on Sasuke it would have been a mean wallop. Sasuke moved to the side and her fist landed into a tree behind him. He twirled around and grabbed for the girls wrist and tugged her into tree. Back being slammed up against the trunk she coughed a little bit. Her breathing was a little hitched. The Uchiha had knocked the air right out of her. Sword pulled out and he went slashing towards her but she jerked away in time. Instead the blade went through the tree and got stuck there. Sakura took this chance to try and make another strike. With a side of her fist she went to hammer him in the back. The youngest Uchiha brother pulled away with his sword in hand. Her skin split open when the blade's sharp edge made contact with the flesh. Blood began to seep out from the incision on her arm. "You need more anger if you wish to kill me."

How frustrating to know that she couldn't land a hit on him. Sakura trained hard after that second encounter. She's been trying hard for several years to becoming stronger. Yet it seemed that she would never be able to catch up to someone like Sasuke. Or even Naruto for that matter. These thoughts were the cause of a fatal mistake that had her pinned against the tree. His sword was to her neck and he moved in close. Sasuke's harsh charcoal eyes stared deep into her soul. Making it feel like he was raping her mind. Her body shook as she felt the cool steel press closer to her neck. Sakura's breath was shaky as his mouth inched closer to her. His warm breath wafted across her flesh. Chills puckered on the back of her neck and it was racing down her spine. "You're weak, Sakura. You are letting you're emotions get the better of you. As long as your conscious controls your mind you will never be able to kill me. You've always been fragile. A damsel in distress, haven't you? After all these years, you can't change. I guess it's true, a tiger can't change its stripes. Little girl."

Never before could Sakura say she has gotten upset with Sasuke. Feeling agitated at him was a feeling she has never felt. Except for now. As he kept speaking, degrading her, it sparked a little fire inside of her. Each insult kept adding fuel to that fire. Anger began to rise up. The flames burned the inside f her belly She was tired of everyone pushing and calling her weak. _I came here for a reason. I left the village for a reason. I can't let Sasuke degrade me. I can't let myself degrade me either. I told myself I was done with that! Now, now is the time to prove it! To me, to Sasuke, to everyone! _She screamed in her thoughts.

"Tell me something, Sasuke." she said stuffing her sorrow into the back of her throat.

The Uchiha arched an eyebrow. "How does it feel to eat fist?" She growled.

Sakura's right hand grabbed on to the collar of his white open shirt. Her other hand came winding up and socked him right in the face. Sasuke flew back a couple feet. Sakura must have rattled his brain a little bit. There was so much power in that single strike. A metallic taste was in his mouth. Such a familiar taste on his tongue. Blood oozed down the side of his mouth. His fingers wiped some of the scarlet liquid away from his chin. He looked down to the blood on the tips of his digits. "Hm." a small smirk spread across his face.

Such a rush came flowing into her mind. It was causing her to get high. How was it possible to get such a charge from punching Sasuke in the face. Her previous self would have been distraught for doing it, and the only time she would have done it if it was an accident. Then, she would have never been able to live with herself. Now though, it was a different story. There was a list of reasons on why it felt so good to have punched him. He's a a jackass, he left the village, he rejects the bonds that he has had, he is seeking revenge for all the wrong reasons, and he is easily manipulated. "That actually hurt." Sasuke said with his smirk spreading wider across his face.

"Good," Sakura snarled.

Sakura lurched forward. Now there was an intent to kill him. There was an intent to show and prove to him she wasn't the same little girl back in their genin days. Her left fist came up but he moved back. Her right hand came up to pushed towards his chest and moved to the right. With a jerking movement her elbow came and got him right in the cheek. He once more was jerked a few feet away with a searing pain in his jaw now he held his sword tightly in his hands. He swung it in her direction and she brought her kunai out and blocked his blade. With a flick of his wrist he moved the sword away and went to slash lower, ripping a little bit of her shirt and scraping her pale stomach. Crimson liquid soaked the area around her shirt and seeped down along her flesh. He held his sword tighter as he went up to slash her face. Sakura tossed her head back to avoid the sharp blade. The kunai in her hand was tossed directed towards him. Sasuke's eyes watched the blade as it whizzed by. The knife caught on to the shoulder of his shirt, snagging a piece. A part if his shirt was now stuck to the tree. "Still not good enough." his voice taunted.

Poison struck through her ears as he took another stab at her. An emotional stab at that but one that pissed her off none the less. In a blind rage of fury she swung her legs towards his. Sasuke jumped up. Shuriken in her hands she gave them a violent throw. The Uchiha then disappeared and back up behind her. His fist balled up came right at her and she turned her head in time to grab it. Before the other hand gripping his sword could cut her pale flesh a gain she thrust her foot against his stomach. The Uchiha came flying about a few hundred feet crashing into several trees behind him. Blood came spewing from his mouth from the force of the kick. Sakura didn't linger to far behind, she quickly caught up and her hand caught on to his shirt and she tossed him back the other direction a few times. His form then disappeared out of no where and he was behind her once again. She pulled a kunai out and as he stuck his sword to her neck she held the tip of the kunai over his heart. "..." silence came from him but stared intently into her emerald eyes.

Honestly Sakura felt like puking right now. She swallowed down a lot in order to do what she did. Right now she was fighting back tears and keeping a pretty even expression. Inside she felt like she was dieing. Sakura really loved Sasuke. She knew what was best for him, for her... for the rest of the village. "Was that good enough?" Sakura kept her voice as bitter as possible.

* * *

Cold air circulated around the two lovers. The dimly lit prison cell bitter. Hair on the back of Sasuke's neck prickled and it sent chills racing down his spine. Inside of here he was so cold. Not even the blanket that rested on his bed could cure the frigid feeling. Sakura's fingers slipped through the bars and grasped on to his fingers. So elegant and wonderful to hold. When she turned to stare towards him, she could hardly see her love. His features were hard to make out. Yet, she could feel his pungent stare burning through her. Staring not just at her, but into her soul. Her heart pounded against her chest softly. A lot has happened since that time. She loved him so much. Sakura always has and always will.

Sasuke Never understood what she saw in him. He tore her down to her very core. He stripped every single emotion from her, tossed it on the ground, and stomped viciously on it. What did he ever do to deserve the boyfriend of the year award? Absolutely nothing. This made him extremely confused. Sakura's love for him has never seemed to quit. He truly felt like he has used her. He has. "Sasuke,"

His eyes stared down then. "What?" he uttered.

Her lips fell fell open, "Do you remember what you said to me after we stopped fighting?"

Yes, he did. A moment when what she had done he would have never imagined she would have done it. Then he still was suspicious of her intentions. Uchiha Sasuke wasn't a dense idiot who could be fooled so easily. "I do remember."

* * *

_Was that good enough? _Rung through Sasuke's ears as he stared with his demeaning charcoal eyes. Sakura's proof was not good enough for the youngest Uchiha member. There was something more, to prove her loyalty to him, that she could do. "No, it wasn't good enough." his voice was sharp.

Like her whole body being attacked from the inside out, she felt her stomach ache. Then a burning sensation began to course its way through her entire body. Eventually, she felt such a feeling tingling on her skin. Her toes curled in her sandals. She didn't know how to react to such a word. Finally, with a shaky breath, she lost it. "What is that you want? You ask me to kill you! Or come at you like I'm going to kill you. I'm not going to have it anymore! Why the hell are you _not _satisfied? Tell me, what in the world must I do next?"

After she lost it, she was out of breath. Any normal person would probably have cowered in fear at her burst of anger. Sasuke wasn't a normal person. He stood there with his poker face as if this happened every single day to him. The Uchiha just didn't seem to care really. As the sun moved in its set direction to set, shade began to move over them. The trees shade was covering over Sakura. That eased the burning on her pale flesh. Sasuke ran his hands through his fingers. He eased his eyes shut and a breeze came through and his hair flowed with the wind. His eyes fluttered open and stared at the crystal blue skies. A few birds came passing on by, "I want you to take your head band off."

"What?" She asked, baffled.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed gently, "Are you deaf? I said, take off your hea-"

"I know what you said, but... why?" She cut the Uchiha off.

He slowly began to pace circles around the pink haired kunoichi. His feet scraped against the ground, dust rising up with each step he took. As he rounded her, not once did he ease his relenting gaze off of her. As his gaze kept on her, he saw she kept hers on him. There was this air of consciousness from her. "Why? Hm. I would have thought you were smart than that." his insult stung, "It's simple. By taking your headband off, you're swearing your allegiance to me. That you're no longer apart of the leaf village. That you're solely mine."

Sasuke came up behind her. His lips edged close to her ear. She felt the warmth waft across her ear. Sakura couldn't help but shudder then. "Isn't that what you want, Sakura?" he taunted her.

Evil felt like it was being shoved down her throat. His presence was overwhelming to her. Chills viciously went down her spine. Tears would have gathered at the corner of her eyes but she choked them back. Her entire body began to shake. She felt uncomfortable with him behind her like that. Sakura took a few steps and swirled around. All he wanted her to do was remove her head band. She bit her bottom lip gently. Slowly her hand came up behind her head, touching the knot of her forehead protector. Her fingers lightly skimmed over strands of pink hair. Sakura was very hesitant but, she had no choice. In order to show that she really meant this, she had to. Sometimes when things had to be done, you had to betray all your friends. _I'm sorry Naruto, Ino, Tsunade-shishou, Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and everyone else back at the leaf village. Forgive me for what I'm about to do. It has to be done though. _

Taking in a deep breath, she gripped a little harder on to the knot. She untied her head band and it fell lose. Pink tendrils came falling forward from the strands that were being held back. Gently she shook her head to make her hair straight. Now she was holding it in her hand. It was slightly obvious Sasuke was staring at the red forehead protector she held in her hand. Suddenly she tossed it to the ground. Once more her heart dropped in her stomach, maybe even lower. What Sasuke hadn't been expecting was that she stomped on it and then looked up. "I'm done with the leaf village."

Never the less, the Uchiha was pleased. Sakura completely meant this, he was sure of it now. She wouldn't be pulling any funny tricks. He tore her down to the crux. It had to be done, and she didn't seem to mind. Sasuke turned around and walked past her. "Come on." he said.

With his back to her a few stray tears had eased down her cheeks. Sasuke hadn't seen the salty liquid drip down her face. Her body was frigid. All she felt was the rush of his presence walking on by and telling her to 'come on' meaning, follow me. A deep breath in, she furiously began to wipe her tears away. She turned around facing his back, "Yes, I'm coming." she said in such an obedience voice. The pink haired kunoichi followed him into the thicket of trees.

* * *

This place wasn't obvious. There were was a clear sign that this place was lightly inhabited. Trees surrounded the the entrance. A few branches twisted and twirled in the fronts. As they approached the steel doors, they parted open. Sasuke and Sakura were greeted by lighted hallways. The floor was tiled but the walls were cave like. There was a bitter sense of air inside of here. It prickled the back of her neck gently and her eyes stared forward. Was this where he was doing his bidding now. As she looked around, she couldn't help but feel a sense of remorse. Part of her was proud that she gathered the courage up. Then another part was seriously missing the leaf village.

Tobi was waiting inside building sitting on top of the tables. One leg was propped up on top of the metal table. Behind him was a perfectly good chair that he could have been using. That was Sasuke perch though. Tobi's face glanced towards the entry way. Two figures headed their way. Tobi jumped off of the table and he stared gently towards Sasuke and the young medic kunoichi. "I see it was successful then, wasn't it?"

Sasuke arched an incredulous brow, "You should know. You were watching."

A slight chuckle escaped, "Well, I did say that I was going to make sure nothing bad happened to you."

Once more Sakura looked bewildered, "Madara," Sasuke's voice was sharp.

"W-what? Madara? But." her eyes shot towards the man in the orange swirled mask. How could have he been Uchiha Madara. Not only was he alive years ago when Konohagakure was first founded but, he had died during the battle with the first hokage. So she was having a bit of a tough time realizing this was The Uchiha Madara. "B-but, you're supposed to be dead."

"Well, I'm not." he simply said.

Sakura was astounded, "How?"

"You ask too many questions." Madara said as he pulled away and walked towards another door way. "Everything will be explained later, dear Sakura. But for now, you must come with me. We're going to find you a new wardrobe."

Sakura couldn't help but glance at Sasuke. How useless it was to though. Like he would do anything to help or. Even explaining the reason for this would work either. She took in a deep breath and lowered her head in defeat. Bitterness was present on her tongue. Down the hall she followed and took a turn on the right, followed by a door that was placed on the left. Madara simply pushed his hands up against the it for it to open. She looked around a bit when she entered the room. Nothing like her room back at home. Despite it having the essentials like a bed, closet, dresser, and a mirror. There was no window to let in the natural sunlight. The room was only lighted by candles. Sakura quivered gently. "Is this... where I'll be staying?" she whispered.

"Yes."

Madara coolly paced himself towards the closet. The door slid open to reveal some clothes wrapped up in a plastic bag. The pink haired kunoichi felt herself freeze up a bit. How could they have already gotten clothes for her. Her eyes drifted from the bag on top of the bed towards Madara. Words were caught in her throat. Somehow she found the will to speak, "How... why would you have clothes like this already for me?"

Shifting around the room a bit, straightening things out, Sakura hadn't moved from her spot. Madara could only imagine why really. He stood in front of the dresser lighting the candle that was sitting on top of it. An interesting question came from her mouth. Though she may not have seen this coy smirk, one appeared behind the mask. The eerie look from that one hole in his mask "Let's just say something told me you would come back for Sasuke."

Madara left her in the room all by herself. She was stunned. He knew? _Is that even possible? _She thought. Madara called out, "When you done, come back out."

Sakura hadn't dignified that with a response. The door just closed and she stood in the middle of the room dumbfounded. Warmth filled her skin but the insides just felt so cold. Gently she ran a hand up her pale arm, as if to sooth herself. It did nothing though. A touch that usually was soothing did not help. She just ended up slumping on top of the bed. Her emerald eyes stared towards the ground. Sakura looked down to her hands and her entire body was shaking furiously. Tears began to stream down her eyes then. "How could have he possibly known I was coming? Did he predict it? Or am I just that predictable."

For a few minutes she was able to sit there and have a full out cry session to herself. She sat on the bed and hugged her knees close to her chest. This had been a bad idea in the end. Here she left her village. She had a family, friends, and her master who call cared for her. Sakura made it impossible for her to be truly happy there though. So she left in search to make herself happy. Her life would have only been satisfying to her to know that Sasuke was out of the darkness. Now look at her, she was sitting here in a dark room, by herself, being forced to rid her ties of Konoha.

She bit her bottom lip roughly enough to break skin. "Nn," she grumbled lightly. A bit of metallic blood eased down on to her chin. The dull pain she kind of jerked at. When she wiped her fingers away she stared at the red liquid. _Why am I always sitting here, crying to myself? I can't let this sacrifice go to waste, now can I? Though my heart may be breaking, this is for the sake of Sasuke. Because... I love him. I'll try not to cry anymore. It's obvious no guarantee, but I absolutely have to try harder! Because if not, this is me being selfish, in so many ways. _Sakura was brought out of thought when she heard a voice on the other side of the door, "Are you done yet?" it sounded slightly annoyed, but it had been Madara.

Sakura felt like a deer caught in the head lights for a moment. Back and forth she kept glancing around quite nervously. She didn't know what to say and she didn't know what to do. That heart rare of hers was pounding wildly against her chest. Back and forth her eyes darted from the clothes to the door. "Uh, uh..." she took a step back and started to open the back, "I'll be out in just a moment! I was staring off into space."

Not exactly a lie, but whatever. Sakura started to change into the different clothes.

* * *

Madara and Sasuke were sitting there talking about the next for their plan. Or rather the next step to the huge plan that Tobi had in mind. Until they both heard some foot steps walking down the hallway. Madara and Sasuke immediately pulled their heads up. Sakura had stepped out in her newly changed clothes. She felt a little embarrassed, naked to be honest. Her upper body was adorned with a red top that was covering her exposed a lot of her stomach. The collar held up to her neck and down the center there were three little buttons. The belly exposing shirt held tightly to her chest, showing more of what she blossomed into instead of the baggy shirt that was able to hide what she had. Her lower half was covered by a pair of shorts and over it was a skirt with long slits up it side and the cloth came to a pointed end near her knees. Since she had not been given any other shorts, her boots/sandals she still wore. "That suits you. Only if your hair was longer."

Sakura put her hands defensively up towards her short pink hair. She cut it short for a reason. Sakura never planned on growing it out any time soon. Her toes curled in her shoes a bit and she stared at Sasuke. He stood up from the end of the table. A long cloak decorated with clouds was on the end. He pushed it into her chest and she grasped on to it. This was it. The moment she slipped that over her shoulders would completely mark her on Sasuke's side. Staring down to it intently, she put it on without much hesitance. Sasuke's cool eyes stared at how welcoming she was becoming to her new situation. "Sit." Sasuke ordered her.

Her eyes narrowed at Sasuke lightly. Commanding her like she was some common dog. If she didn't know better she would have complained about it. Instead though, she came up towards the table and scooted the chair out and she sat down. Madara set his hand underneath his chin and lifted his face up. One could not see but he was obviously giving Sakura an observation look over. "Explain to me again, in full detail, on why you have decided to leave your village?"

Sakura's hands folded over on the desk and nodded her head, "I should have expected this questions. Well," she said as her eyes wandered off towards the side, "The last time I encountered Sasuke. When Naruto faced him. There... was something about him. I knew it was wrong. When we returned back to the village I did some research on the sharingan. It was then I discovered that when having the more powerful forms of the sharingan and using its attack repetitively like an idiot." That caused Madara to chuckle a little bit, knowing that was an aim towards Sasuke. Once again he seemed completely unaffected by such, "he didn't have a proper healer so I though... I could help him."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously towards her, "Why would you want to help me, Sakura?"

Once more her nerves began to bunch up. She was put on the spot light and she didn't know how to get out. There was a reason why she wanted to 'help him' and then there was something in her that she didn't want to say to Sasuke. At least, not with Madara around. She already was much weaker compared to Sasuke himself. All her use would be for was her healing abilities. The motions of her chest was heavy. Sweat was beginning to bead at the top of her brow. She flicked some pesky strands away from her face. What would she say? Sakura didn't even have to look to see that Madara and Sasuke were staring at her. Her mouth open as she finally went to speak, "Because I would get no where in the leaf village."

Sasuke leveled his hands close to his eyes. Deep pools of charcoal peeked over the top of his pale knuckles. He fluttered his eyes shut as he took in Sakura's answers. "Hmph, is that so?" his voice so toneless that it prickled at the back of Sakura's neck. He eased himself back against the chair and stared towards her. "You're lying to me."

"N-No I'm not!" Sakura spluttered.

Sasuke stared at her with an arch of an incredulous brow, "You've always been a horrible lair. Sakura. Now, tell me the true reason why you chose to aid me."

"But I'm not ly-" his ominous stare cut her off and she gritted her teeth.

Madara was simply amused with it all. The deep chuckling of his voice said it all. He was impatient to hear her reasoning. Sakura sat there uncomfortable. Sasuke expected her to explain herself when he should know the real reason. A long silence accompanied after her little declaration that it wasn't a lie. Her fingers bunched up the cloth of her new cloak. "Sasuke, I told you before... years ago."

Sasuke stood up from his chair then, "I see. So, my hunch was right."

After all these years Sakura still loved him. Leaving the village to seek power, leaving her there alone in the cold. It wasn't enough for her to get over him? Sasuke tried to kill her and she still cherished him? Sakura's feelings for him made no sense. This just made her delusional and stubborn. The Uchiha was heading outside. Madara peeked over from the table and watched him leave. "Where are you going?" Madara inquired.

"Nothing of your concern. I'll be back in a minute." Sasuke responded.

The ancient Uchiha stood up from his seat to following his little pawn off outside. Sasuke could be so moody. Her love for him was strong. She would stand at the roof tops and scream at the top of her lungs. Just, not in front of Madara. He was probably the type of person to judge such emotions as weak and vulnerable. He was just probably off to ask Sasuke what she meant by, 'the same reason I gave you years ago.' Now Sakura was just leaf there alone feeling slightly humiliated.


	3. Chapter 3: There's No Sympathy

**Ugh, Sorry it's been a while guys. I started college and I've been super busy with homework and stuff. Plus there has been a lot of family issues. Here's chapter three. I hope you enjoy it.**

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* * *

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Light filtered through the jail cell when a door came bursting open. The sounds echoed and bounced off the walls ringing in Sasuke and Sakura's ears. The pink haired kunoichi somber expression glanced towards the side. A spine tingling sensation puckered along Sakura's skin. A prisoner guard came walking inside down the hallway and stood in front of Sakura. "Miss, visiting hours are over now." He said softly and rather timidly towards her.

Sakura lowered her head and her long lashes came together as she eased her eyes shut. "I see," she said, "I'll be out in a moment. Leave." Her voice had been rather strict.

The girl turned over towards the bars and her fingers sought out Sasuke's face. Her fingers gently skimmed down along the side of his face. Sasuke's skin has truly paled over the course of years he has been set inside of her. Sasuke never got to see the ray of light. Not even in Sakura's emerald grin eyes which used to be filled with joy and kindness. They resembled his eyes though, cold and hollow. "Sasuke," her voice was shaky, "I have to leave you now. Come…come closer."

At least one of the only remaining Uchiha left had some form of condolence with the sound of the young woman's voice. Though it has matured, though there was obvious hurt in her voice and a sense of loneliness, it was the only form of humility he had left. Sasuke eased as close as he could the bars. His hand gently eased through the bars to touch the side of Sakura's face. For a moment, their lips touched. Comfort warmed through his body to know at least her lips were still as supple and warm as ever. Their kiss broke when she pulled away. Quickly she tore her eyes towards the cobble stoned floor and pushed herself to her feet. "I'll be back tomorrow Sasuke."

"Of course you will," he responded coolly.

Sakura left Sasuke's holding cell. When introduced to the room which was lighted rather brightly compared to the holding cells. Hardly fair, if you asked her, "We'll be seeing you tomorrow?" the security guard asked.

There was an elegant stride to her step as her hips swing to and fro. Her silky long locks flowered behind her. Sakura's hand gently placed on to the handle. She inclined her head over her shoulder and a smirk curled on to her lips, "It's Mrs. Now by the way."

A hard shiver shook through the timid guard's body seeing her eyes stare to him in such a way. His face turned into a shade of red as his quickly abruptly stood up and bowed, "Y-yes! I'm so sorry for being incompetent, Mrs. P-please forgive me!"

Her head turned back and without another answer, she left the building into the beautiful night. There was no moon to shine down upon her and illuminate her skin. The lights of the village had ceased being able to see the sparkling stars of the sky. All there was that cold autumn breeze that splashed upon her flesh as bumps prickled on her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Her heels gentle tapped onto the path as she was lead towards a more desolate part of the village. Before she could make that turn she heard a familiar chirping voice, "Sakura! Sakura! Hey, Sakura wait!"

The young woman slightly cringed at the sound of that ear piercing call. Reluctantly Sakura turned around to see long bouncing blond hair flow behind and the enthusiastic eyes of her long time friend Ino. She just had such a sparkle in her icy blue optic. One that Sakura missed in her own stare. She envied Ino. She had a much more simple life and though she had said she loved Sasuke when they were sixteen, she had not sacrificed her being for Sasuke. That showed you who obviously cared more for the Uchiha. "Hey Sakura!" she chirped.

The pink haired woman tried relaxing her stern facial features, but found it rather difficult to do so. "Hello, Ino."

Ino frowned at her friend's stiffness. So, gently she pushed her and said lightly, "Sakura don't look so sour! I _am _you friend, bill board brow. Today was a good day!"

Sakura's green eye lightly twitched with the subtle shove. Obviously she wasn't amused with Ino's gestures to get her to cheer up. Ino saw her unchanging expression and she backed away a bit, disappointed. A heavy sigh eased from Sakura's lips as she brought the palm of her hand to her forehead, "What's so amazing, Ino?"

The blond haired woman smiled rather meekly then and held out her hand towards Sakura. Green eyes just stared towards her eloquent hand. Honestly she hadn't seen anything until something just sparkled. There was a ring on her fingers. Her eyes stared towards Ino and she gently patted Ino on the top of her head. "So, Shikamaru finally proposed?"

Ino gushed, "Yes! I was beginning to wonder when he was going to do it! The wedding is in two months. We have A LOT of things to do. Like go shopping for dresses, get the caterer, find the place to do it at, and get the invitations and hand everything out! This is going to be so perfect! And-"

The blond just kept babbling on, and on, and on about how wonderful and amazing this wedding was going to be. Her lips pursed together tightly then and her hand came on top of Ino's shoulders then. "Ino, it… It sounds nice but I'm going to be kind of busy these next few months. Sasuke is going to be getting out soon…"

Roughly Ino pulled back and stared at Sakura. There was a feeling of hurt and betrayal that ran through her. "B-but Sakura, You're my best friend. I want you to be my bride's maid Sakura."

Sakura's brow furrowed deeply. Ino was a dirty player, she really was. Despite the void of emotion on the outside, she couldn't help but feel bad for what she has said. The girl tried her best to smile towards her best friend. It couldn't be done. "Maybe you should ask Hinata to be your bride's maid."

Emotions flowed through her entire body. Ino couldn't believe her ears. Tears welled at the very corner of her eyes. Those pale cheeks of hers flushed a violent shade of red. The very hair on the back of Ino's neck raised. "Sakura, I-I can't believe you! I-I-I I hate Sasuke!" She screeched, "All he has ever done to you, to us, to everyone who he has cared for was hurt them, abuse them, and manipulate them! And yet you still love him so much!" the girl was crying wildly.

"Ino…" Sakura's voice said softly as she attempted to calm her friend.

Yet Ino turned her back on Sakura and she spoke harshly, "No, don't even try Sakura. Don't talk to me ever again. You're a cold hearted bitch."

Once again Sakura was left there feeling alone, frozen and just not herself. Sakura's eyes closed tightly. Her hands grasped on to her arms as she watched Ino's figure fade into the village. Maybe all she was just a cold hearted bitch. No matter, Sakura had been on her way home and would continue her lonely trek down the road. Instead of turning to the main part of the village, she wandered off the corner of the village to the Uchiha compound.

* * *

Last night when the door had busted open and he saw his crying fiancée he had sighed and asked what the matter was, however instead of telling him, she insisted that she just lock herself in their room. Later that night he had joined her in the bed and attempted to ask again despite the trouble that it had been for him to ask and all Ino said was she wanted to wait to talk about it tomorrow. So, it was tomorrow and they were out for lunch. Shikamaru had been correct to assume that this problem involved something to do with Sakura. The ANBU man had not known much about Sakura in the past nine years or what she was feeling or going through. The only person who could relay what was going on right now was their sixth hokage.

A ringing sound caused Shikamaru to look up. Naruto came in, and it was mighty hard to look at him and not see the fourth hokage in him. His hair had grown out somewhat longer and he came in wearing his normally colored attire. So bright, you would think that he has learned by now that orange and a ninja don't mix extremely well together. Naruto came in and his eyes fell on Shikamaru's serious eyes. He has obtained a few scars over the years, and slowly he was resembling more and more of his father. Then his eyes went to the woman who was sitting next to him. Ino looked distraught and about ready to break down. Naruto's brows furrowed deeply as he took his sit across from the couple. "Where's Hinata?" Shikamaru started with a casual subject.

"She has business with her father today." He replied.

"How is the baby?" He inquired

Naruto grinned broadly, "Hinata is about ready to burst! I'm so excited, she should be due any day now." But his large smile faded when his blue eyes went back towards Ino. A much more pensive look came, "Anyway, I know I wasn't brought here for small, talk. What's up?"

Shikamaru sighed with annoyance, "I'm not sure. Ino has been so upset she hasn't told me what exactly what is wrong. Last night she came running in last night crying her eyes out. She was persistent not to tell." His eyes glanced towards his fiancé then and wrapped his arm around her gently to pull her in, "Well are you going to continue to be troublesome or are you going to actually say what happened?"

Ino continued sobbing for a moment. Thankfully it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been yesterday. Sakura had torn Ino's heart open when she had said she should probably see maybe if she could find another person to be her bride's maid. Her pale hands came to wipe the tears away from her face. She was slightly afraid to look up because her eyes were swollen and red from all of the crying she has done. How was Shikamaru able to drag her out of the house? Even that was unknown to him. Almost timidly, Ino looked up. "Last night I saw Sakura walking home. Shikamaru had just proposed to me the other day."

Naruto grinned, "So you finally popped the question?"

The blond tossed her fork to Naruto's head. She gave him the stink eye, "don't interrupt me!"

The hokage frowned and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry," he said almost as if he had been the one who was offended.

A threatening look was still shooting from Ino's ice blue eyes. It took a moment before she continued, "_Anyway,_ I showed her the ring and I guess she was probably generally happy for me but I hadn't paid much attention to the look on her face because I was too busy going over the things we were going to do together to prepare for the wedding. You know, she had said the most horrible thing to me. I want her to be my bride's maid but… she said I should ask someone else. Naruto, she's my best friend but she rather spend her time with Sasuke! It's not fair, that…. That bastard changed her in so many ways. Sakura isn't even Sakura anymore."

Naruto had rested his chin in the palm of his hand. Ino honestly looked distraught over this. She wasn't being a drama queen like she normally can be. "There is one thing about Sakura that has never changed, her love for Sasuke. It hurt when I figured out how much she loved him. Yet, I tried hard to get him back for her sake and for mine too. I know you loved Sasuke once and it was sad for you to see the direction he had been going in. So, it shouldn't be hard for you to try and imagine what she went through that day when she left. Sakura had tried killing Sasuke before but she couldn't. It nearly almost got her killed. It took a lot for her to leave Konoha. She knew the possible consequences but she did it. Sakura… took things into her own hands that day…"

Remembering that day was slightly painful for him. Naruto had been personally frustrated with himself because it was his fault she left. At least, it felt like it. "In order to get Sasuke back, in order to get underneath his skin she personally had to change her-self to play a role perfectly, to not raise suspicion. Her doing that finally made her the kunoichi she had always wanted to be. Sasuke had stripped her to the very core. It made her weak and venerable and her emotions easily manipulated. Yet, it wasn't completely Sasuke's fault either. Madara takes the majority of the blame for this. Look what he had done to Sasuke because he was venerable too. He made both of them his puppets."

Suddenly the expression on Ino's face changed. Then her brows pinched tightly together as she had realized this. She brought the palm of her hands over her eyes. "What a fool I am… Sakura was always sacrificing herself for Sasuke and you."

Tears welled in Ino's eyes once again. Naruto shook his hands wildly as he started speaking hysterically, "No! No! Don't start crying again Ino! It's not your fault! You probably just forgot. I mean, come on, you have fallen in love with Shikamaru and he has been what your concerned about, right?"

Shikamaru groaned, "Naruto, calm down."

A small little chuckle came and he scratched the back of his head a bit. "Anyways, I'll go ahead and talk to Sakura for you."

Ino just smiled, "There's no need."

Despite the smile on her face, Naruto just felt there wasn't something right. Ino was still upset over this whole fiasco. He'll go talk to Sakura. First though, he felt it important for a hokage to get his nutrition and eat a nice lunch.

Evening finally took hold over the sky. The moon was hidden by the clouds and this only mattered if you lived in an unlighted part of the village. Naruto was calmly making his pace along the path that led to the corner of the village. The Uchiha compound was barren and still rather destroyed from those years ago when the massacre happened. Sometimes Naruto wondered how much things would have been different if it never happened. Would Sasuke and Naruto still be friends? Would Sakura care so much about Sasuke now? Sure she crushed hard on the Uchiha when they were children but team seven gave those strong bonds to grow. For a while Naruto thought he had a chance finally. When she left the village it had been clear she just wanted to help him out and showed great concern for Naruto's well being. "Naruto?" Sakura's voice called out in curiosity.

The hokage had been in his own world, so when Sakura's voice reached his ears he had quickly jumped a little bit. Sakura wondered what Naruto was doing out here. Her steps made their way so she was right beside him. Naruto and Sakura were walking side by side now. "So what brings you around here?" Sakura asked, "I thought you were going to be with Hinata or something."

Naruto just shook his head lightly, "No, actually. I came around to talk to you about something." He said.

Now she was curious. Exactly what could have been important to him, that he came directly towards her? From what she understood over here, Naruto was the one who searched for her. "So, what do you want to talk to me about then?" she asked as she curiously cocked her head to the side.

"Well, Ino came to me today…" he started off nonchalantly.

Sakura rolled her eyes and groaned. Did Ino really just tattle on her? It seems the blond kunoichi hasn't matured yet. Deep inside Sakura felt slightly bitter that Ino went and complained to Naruto. "So she told on me to you?"

The look in Sakura's eyes made him feel sad and worried for her. "No, Shikamaru told me. You made Ino cry, Sakura. She just asked you to be her bride's maid. You told her no. She thinks Sasuke is taking over your life."

She pinched her brows and she gave the hokage the dirtiest look she has ever given to him. Chills ran down Naruto's back. Despite the impending doom he felt, he kept his firm stare on her. "You're shutting yourself out from everyone Sakura. It isn't fair to Ino and everyone else. Ino is your best friend; she wants you by her side. Yet, you're over here acting like a cold heartless bitch and pushing everyone away."

Sakura stopped in her tracks. The thick tension in the air could suffocate somebody. Naruto noticed she stopped and he turned around and faced towards her. "I can't believe you have the nerve to say such a thing. How can our great hokage be so oblivious to everything around him? Tell me, why is it that you wanted to get Sasuke back so much?" she didn't give Naruto time to answer, "Because he's your _friend" _Venom dripped from her voice.

"Sakura," Naruto started.

The woman didn't give him a chance to continue, "Don't you even! Naruto, ever since Sasuke has been thrown in prison people have been forgetting about him! Sure in the beginning the rookie nine visited him every day and tried to conversed with him. Then slowly but surely people stopped visiting him, or even asking about him."

"B…" Naruto tried interjecting again.

"NO! You, shut up!" Sakura growled, "Naruto, _you _of all people... you stopped caring too! You stopped visiting him. I thought he was supposed to be someone you considered a brother! If I didn't visit Sasuke every day then no one would have! He would just rot inside that cell with no human contact at all! Think about that, okay!"

With her jaw clenched tight she turned around and stalked back off towards the direction she was heading in at first. Naruto called out to her, "Sakura, you've changed, for the worst!"

Naruto and Sakura had a lot of thinking to do. After all these years you think the troubled friendship would have gone away. It hasn't though, there's still a lot of mistrust and misunderstandings in each other. Sasuke has caused plenty of controversy and still now he seems to be the main point in Sakura's change and in Naruto's devotion. Both lost touch to what's really important to them.

Sakura pushed the door open and made her way towards the couch. By the time she reached the front step her anger had finally cooled off some. Silence was throughout the house and there was only that occasional creek of the couch when the pink haired kunoichi shifted a little bit. Those last words had rung through her head like angry bees. _You've changed for the worst. _Sakura's lips folded to a deep frown. She sighed heavily as she sunk her body into the cushions. She was left there thinking about how she has changed exactly. Going over it now, she could see exactly what it was like, and how she has changed. Unfortunately Sakura realized a little too late. The progress of her personality went the other direction without her even noticing it. _I guess… I could be a little more attentive to Ino then… _she thought in her mind. Sakura closed her eyes and soon enough she began to drift into a soundless sleep with lucid dreams.

* * *

Early afternoon was drifting into the village of Konoha. Sakura made her usually morning rounds and she as making her way by a food stand to go get Sasuke something to eat. Technically it wasn't allowed but she did it anyways. Their food sucked and she didn't expect Sasuke to be well nourished by eating that disgusting slop. Sakura's head was bowed low as she was watching her feet as she walked. She bumped into somebody and quickly she apologized. When she heard the other person apologizing back, the voice had sounded quite familiar. "Oh, Ino." Sakura said as she now felt extremely awkward.

The feeling was mutual because now she looked at Sakura, "Sakura."

The girls stood there in silence. Sakura shuffled her feet while Ino fiddled with her hands. "I'm sorry," they uttered in unison.

"What, why are you sorry?" Sakura said. The concern on her face was slightly there but twisting her face into anything else other than anger felt weird for her.

"I forgot what it was like… to be in love with Sasuke. I forgot how much I used to be dedicated to him. Being with Shikamaru, I just forgot those feelings. You know I don't hate Sasuke. I still do like him; he was my first crush after all…" Ino smiled meekly only because she wasn't used to doing such things. She was just tired of the constant bickering between their relationship, which something like this wasn't worth fighting over.

If Sakura could manage a smile she would have. However there was softness in her eyes that read how appreciative she was. "And I'm sorry about everything I've done. Leaving the village has changed me a lot… I can't help that much anymore. The things I went through can't be unseen, so… bear with me." Sakura said truthfully.

Ino nodded, "I know I don't understand, so… yeah." As the solemn look on her face went away she stared hopefully and cheerfully towards Sakura, "So… will you be my bride's maid?" She asked.

"Sure." Sakura nodded her head.

Almost instantly Ino cheered and she grabbed Sakura's hand and she was about to pull her off. "Yay! Thank you so much! We should go shoppi-"she paused when she felt Sakura didn't move.

With her free hand she scratched the back of her head. "Um, maybe later if it isn't too late, I have to go take Sasuke some food."

Ino's grasp let loose and nodded her head in understanding. "Oh, yeah okay. If not today we'll do it early tomorrow morning then?" Ino suggested.

"Alright." Sakura's green emerald pools stared calmly towards Ino.

The blond girl wished her friend would smile more but she knew that it was probably really hard for Sakura right now. It seemed she couldn't even fake much of a smile because this was tough. Madara was still out there somewhere, probably seeking Sasuke still. Him and every other villain basically. "I'll see you later. I'll drop by the flower shop."

"Okay!" Ino chirped.

Sakura's body was slightly turned as she waved goodbye. Things were slightly better now. Sakura just hoped that people, even if it's just Naruto, start visiting Sasuke again.


	4. Chapter 4: Asking Why

**AN: I'm sorry this took forever to upload, and get done. College is hectic, and I barely have time to update. Well, here is this chapter!**

Morning quickly came for Uchiha Sasuke. These days in prison were long, but not lonely. Even after everyone eventually stopped visiting him, Haruno Sakura continued to show her devotion to him by seeing him every day. She brought him food, good food, because the prison system had horrible tasting food. She gave him new clothes when he needed it, and gave him some warmer blankets. The only reason Sakura was allowed to get away with this, because she was close friends with the hokage. Sasuke had spent a grueling long five years in here. He was tired, and he wanted out. The doors opened and he saw the womanly figure of Sakura walking through the door, and a basket in her hands. "Sasuke," her voice echoed off the barren walls.

Sasuke chose to remain silent, as he chose to remain emotionally distant too. "You're late…Sakura" he said.

Sakura had let out a soft chuckle at Sasuke's comment, on how she was late. Her eyes just fell on to the ground and pulled the food from the basket and began to unfold Sasuke's clothes. He was so used to her coming right at the time she always came. Her eyes just fluttered shut as she spoke gently, "I'm sorry, Sasuke." She then squeezed the cloth through the bars of his cell, "I was busy this morning. Ino finally got engaged and she asked me to join her…"

Sasuke just remained silent, not speaking a word. "Have they told you anything yet…" Sasuke mumbled coolly as he glanced out the very tiny window in his cell. It wasn't enough to get a good look outside.

The only stimulus of outside he got was when Sakura came in smelling of the trees and grass clippings when she had just came from training. It was a bit of a pleasant smell to be coming from her. He closed his eyes for a moment and he grabbed the items Sakura slipped through his cell. "I don't know yet, to be honest. I haven't received word."

They never told her anything, and sometimes Naruto didn't even know, even though the council members were long gone. She despised Sasuke being locked up for this long, but there was only so much she could do. All she could do was be grateful that Sasuke was here in the leaf village… and away from that monster, Uchiha Madara. Not with the truth she had found out, and his plans…

**6 Months Later After Sakura's Arrival**

Sometimes Sakura firmly believed maybe she wasn't meant to be a kunoichi. She put her heart in everything, and her heart got in the way of a lot of things. Yet, lately she has been wondering where her heart has gone. She hasn't been feeling the same, and she was sure it had to do with the cold atmosphere she was cooped away in. The two frozen hearted Uchiha's she was surrounded with. Yet, with what little heart she had left, and her intentions of leaving the village, she had to get some information.

The pink haired kunoichi wandered down the hallways, the only sounds she was able to hear were her footsteps echoing off of the hallway walls. Sakura was always amazed with how easily she knew she could get lost in here. She bit her bottom lip gently, afraid to bump into something. "Looking for something?" A deep voice echoed out.

Sakura jumped in her skin, her startled emerald green eyes snapped towards the man with the orange mask. She attempted to hide how he frightened her. "No," Sakura lied.

Madara chuckled softly as he leaned against the wall, "What do you want?" his arms crossed against his chest.

She could feel her hear sink into the depths of her stomach. Sakura was about to speak but she knew it would have come out in stutters. She had to look away from the ancient Uchiha because she could feel his sharingan eyes staring deep into her soul. The young woman could not see him stare at her, which made his gaze all that much more ominous. She gathered herself a little bit, "What makes you assume I want something?"

Again, Madara Chuckled "You're wandering around with that stupid look of being clueless on your face."

Sakura pinched her brows tightly together, not amused by his comment. However she just gritted her teeth and said nothing, "So, what do you want?" Madara questioned once more.

"What is it… about the Uchiha? There's something I don't know, and there is something no one has told me. Tell me." Sakura sounded sure of herself now.

Behind the mask, Madara smirked deviously. He pushed himself off the wall and slowly began to pace in circles around the kunoichi. This made her nervous as she began to follow him when he turned to her back. She didn't trust him being somewhere where she couldn't keep her eyes on him. "You want to know about the Uchiha past?" he questioned her.

Sakura gulped, "Yes."

The Uchiha turned his head upward and he stopped. He stared towards the ceiling for a moment. Then his head snapped towards her direction. He turned his back to her and started to walk away, "Follow me."

Frozen for a brief moment, she stared in shock. Finally, she just clutched her hands together and caught up to Madara. He remained soundless as they turned a corner and into a dimly lighted room. The candles flickered gently as he sat down. Sakura looked around for a place to sit. There was a lonely chair in the corner of the room. She sat down and she waited for him to start speaking. "Do you want the whole story, or should I just dumb it down for you?"

Sakura bit her lip to keep any inappropriate words from spilling through her lips, "Just. Give me the whole story." She demanded softly.

Madara eased back into the chair he was resting in. He placed his hand underneath his chin and stared towards the pink haired kunoichi. The look in her eye was interesting; there was something that twinkled in her eyes, a cunning look. Something was brewing in her mind, and for once he wasn't able to read someone like an open book. Maybe they should have spoken sooner, so he could have observed her better before she began to change. "I'm sure you're informed that I am the founder of the Uchiha clan, right?"

Sakura nodded her head, she knew that much. Madara continued, "The Senju Clan, where the first hokage was from, was the rival clan of ours. We constantly fought. Those who hired the Senju Clan, would hire us because we were enemies. Our Sharingan was the ultimate weapon. Eventually, they made a peace treaty with the Senju clan, and I disagreed greatly, but no one listened to me. I accepted it with hesitance, but it had to be done. As I thought, they started shoving my clan down, and I tried to warn them. However, they didn't listen, and told me I only wanted more power. I left them, abandoned by my own clan…" the way he worded it, it almost made it sound like he was trying to gain sympathy from Sakura.

There was no point of buying it, Sakura was just going to sit there and listen and judge what was his next move was going to be if he didn't tell her. "I returned and challenged the hokage for a battle, at the valley of end. Ultimately, I lost and that's when people began to believe I was dead."

One question did arise in her mind, "How… how exactly have you lived for so long?"

A cruel chuckle escaped as he leaned back into the chair he was sitting on, "My younger brother and I were always trying to see who was the strongest. Together we officially formed the Uchiha clan and became its leaders. We both obtained the mangekyo sharingan. I used mine too much, and I began to suffer the consequences. I took my brothers eyes and that's how I became immortal."

He was searching for her reaction, but there wasn't one. Sakura just stared at him; however she couldn't believe what she heard. The expression she wore didn't give any telling signs of what she was thinking. Madara was a horrible man; she couldn't let Sasuke be in his clutches for much longer. "It was through his consent though," he added to see then if he could push any further buttons if possible. Still, there was no reaction.

What she wished to do right now was abruptly stand up from the lonely chair in the corner of the room, viciously point her finger at him, and insult him. What he did wasn't okay, and she did not believe in his twisted way of thinking. How could you take your little brother's eyes? She thought and she just let her calm breathing soothe her. It took a lot to stuff her emotions in the back of her throat. Madara continued, "Anyways, later on the other Uchiha's began to see what I was saying, what I knew what was going to happen. They were too late though, if only they had listened to me before. The Senju clan had officially suppressed the Uchiha clan. Any chance of rebel was futile."

A silence fell between them, like that was the end of the story. It wasn't though, Sakura just knew it didn't feel finished and it exactly wasn't what lead to the night of the Uchiha massacre. "That night the nine tailed fox attacked the village, they blamed it on the Uchiha's. The village elders weren't going to let them know, so they relocated the Uchiha's the corner of the village and attempted to show their trust towards them by putting them in charge of the police force. It was just a pathetic plan to keep the tabs of the Uchiha clan. They knew it, and made their own plans to over throw the village. This is where Sasuke and Itachi get involved."

Sakura felt anticipation growing inside of her. Finally, she was going to know the truth between him and his older brother. She was going to know why he despised the village so much. "Itachi was a spy of the Uchiha clan. Their father and mother were the ring leaders, and Itachi was their spy. He was supposed to obtain information from the village and hand it over to them. However, Itachi was always a peaceful boy from the start. He did not like war, and he knew what his clan was doing was wrong. He informed the village of the Uchiha clan's plot to overthrow the village. The third hokage tried to settle this through peaceful negotiations, but it failed. Ultimately, Itachi was given the choice to stand by his clan's side, or protect the village. Itachi loved the village, and decided their lives had mattered more. Thus, the order was given, destroy the Uchiha clan."

Despair bubbled in Sakura's stomach. She delicately placed her hand over it as she looked down. The darkness of the room hid her expression. Itachi really wasn't the bad guy after all. He loved his village and sacrificed himself. Madara observed the girl before him as she was looking down. This was the most reaction he has gotten out of her through the entire story. Yet, her face was hidden. A single tear gathered at the corner of her emerald eyes. She wished not to show emotion towards this monster so she brashly wiped the side of her face, wiping the tear away. Sakura gathered herself, and peered back up towards the man in the orange mask. "Hm," he studied her more.

Sakura pinched her brows together and spoke, "Go on, finish."

Madara put his hands up defensively, "Alright, alright."

"Itachi's orders were to kill every single last member of the Uchiha clan. Then he was to leave the village as a traitor, to never return. There was a fatal flaw with his execution though. He was able to kill everyone he loved: His mother, his father, his girlfriend… everyone, everyone but his little brother. He loved his brother so dearly that he could night find it in his heart to kill him. Instead, afterwards he pleaded to the 3rd hokage to make sure his brother was left alone and they didn't do anything to him. He begged the third hokage to let Sasuke believe he was truly the cold hearted murderer he was. He wanted Sasuke to one day, kill him, and become the hero of Konoha. That there, was what he wanted for his little brother."

The young woman's insides were quivering. She scanned Madara, and her emerald optic peered outside of the open door and she just felt a wave of angst wash over her. Despite what she knew now, she needed to know something more. What were Madara's plans with Sasuke? Fear made her vocal cords unable to move to choke out her question. Thinking of what his plans could possibly be made her even more ill. "W-what do you plan to do with Sasuke?"

A devious laughter escaped and he leaned the side of his face against his balled up hands. "Sasuke took his brothers eyes, I'm searching for the path of six sages, to control and develop into my own power. Sasuke's eyes will belong to m soon enough."

Madara was just another sick freak wanting to use Sasuke's body, another villain wanting to take Sasuke's powers into their own. "So, what do you think?" he asked.

Abruptly she stood up and gripped tightly to the wooden chair. Her fingers revved into the wood and she looked away. What did she think? He didn't want to know. Sakura wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of watching her break down, no. Sakura was not going to be vulnerable in front of this monstrosity. The back end of the chair crumbled against Sakura's grip and she turned to give him an ominous look, "Doesn't matter." Her voice was steady and even. She did the wise thing and walked out. In her younger days she might have started to cry. Though often Sakura did find herself crying anyways, she was grown up enough to pull herself away from people and do it by herself. Sakura desperately didn't want to be seen as weak anymore…

When she had first had wandered off, tears could not fall from her eyes. Sakura felt like weeping, but no actual tears came from her eyes. She just sat there, rather blank. Eventually, tears were able to flow down her cheeks. After a while of crying she had swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks, the pink haired kunoichi cried to her for a bit for several reasons. One, she felt incredibly sorrowful over the situation that happened in the past. She had no idea and no one had bothered ever telling her. She clearly recalled the encounter team seven shared and there was information being spoken of, that she did

Sakura hadn't moved much from this small cubby like space in the wall. She had sat there for hours just letting everything buzz through her mind like raging bees. How exactly was she supposed to comprehend everything? The thought of processing of what was cheated out of the Uchiha's was unjust. That much was clear to her; however, why Sasuke took it as far as he did she could not understand. The kunoichi bit her bottom lip as she stared in thought. "…Itachi didn't want Sasuke to do this. If he felt so bad about his death why did he go against his brothers wishes? Isn't that… being disrespectful?" she whispered to herself.

She firmly planted the palm of her hands on to her forehead and racked her brain around a little more. Sakura was grinding her teeth together and she had felt her heart drop into the pits of her stomach once more. Footsteps started pacing down the hall which caused Sakura's head to perk up. Her lips pursed together tightly and quickly wiped all the tears away. She snuffed up and completely composed herself. "Sakura," a deep voice droned out, from the shadows she could see it was Sasuke.

Thankfully the hideout had dim lights, so he might not see she had been crying for a good portion of the time. "Sasuke." She said in return.

With his presence so near, it was overwhelming her once again. She wanted to bust down crying, crawling on her knees and begging at his feet that he come home with her. Despite such intense feelings, she choked everything back. She was doing what she has been doing since she has been here. Holding her emotions back as much as she can, "What are you doing out here by yourself, Sakura?"

Sakura cleared her throat, "I was thinking, that is all."

She was telling the truth. She was thinking. Yet, exactly what she was thinking about would be a secret to her until she could find a way to approach Sasuke about this entire situation. He shrugged his shoulders for a moment, and then walked right past her. Sakura' breathed out and she collapsed to the floor again, pressing her forehead to her knees. She grit her teeth as she felt a whirlpool of sadness wash over her.

* * *

Her hand was tucked underneath the steel bars and Sasuke's warm hand was sitting on top of hers. Sakura's eyes closed tightly and her forehead was against the bars and she was staring at Sasuke. Her heart swelled in her chest and she allowed a very gentle and very subtle smile came across her face. Those green eyes wandered up and stared towards the Uchiha. Sasuke didn't bother looking at her at first. She could feel that his eyes weren't staring at her. It hadn't bothered her at all though. Eventually, his eyes did stare up and look at her face. How she changed… "Sakura!" a loud voiced called.

The pink haired kunoichi shot up and her eyes shot towards the door. Naruto stood there with the door practically torn off its hinges, he was panty heavily, and there was panic in his eyes "T-there's an emergency."


	5. Chapter 5: Fall Deeper and Deeper

**AN: Hey guys! I tried to get this chapter posted as quick as I could because I decided that I cannot write the next chapter for Sin's Remedy cause I kind of lost hope for that fanfiction. I just don't feel it for that anymore. Anyways, there's a poll on my page. Both re-makes are going to be OC stories, so if your interested you should go vote. Until then, I'll write a few more chapters of this story to please my SasuSaku readers, and if no one has voted on my poll by then I'll go ahead and chose myself but this is to see if any of my SS readers are interested in the OC stories I wanna remake from a LONG time ago haha. ^^; Anyways, here is this chapter, I hope you enjoy and prepare for some mistakes here and there. I read through it but things still slip by me. Anyways enjoy!**

* * *

Naruto's blue eyes were wide with panic, he breathed in attempt to catch his breath. Sakura blinked her eyes softly with her craned head. Sasuke stared with blank interest. The hokage approached making several hand motions as his brows pinched together. "Sakura! Sakura!" he exclaimed as he approached her and his hands were place on her shoulders and started shaking her gently.

"What is it Naruto?" She said.

"Sakura!"

Sakura sighed with exasperation, "Naruto just spit it out already!"

Clearly she was annoyed that Naruto was dragging on with his non-sense words. The blond's hands were just kind of flying everywhere as panic was clearly written in his eyes. "It's about Madara."

That name immediately made Sakura's cold eyes narrow deeper. Her hands balled up into tight fists. Inside her mouth she grit her teeth and started to grind them together. On the outside she appeared as stiff as a rock. On the inside however, her heart had skipped a bit while there was an ill churn in her guts. Her brain automatically clicked into worry, anger, and just a slight feel of fear. Sakura knew eventually this day would arrive.

Sasuke on the other hand, had lifted his head up gently. He peered through the bars of his cell to his two teammates standing there. The Uchiha's hands lifted and grabbed the bars tightly. Madara has been spotted? He thought to himself. Honestly, he wasn't exactly sure how he should feel about that. There were a slew of emotions that roared through his body. He wasn't scared, but at the same time there was that connection there with Madara. Sasuke just ended up tightening his hands around the bar and staring back down to the ground. Memories flooded his mind, and such a turn of event that had directed him off the path of his ways. For a simple moment, the Uchiha wondered what it would have been like it he decided not to go with Sakura. For a single moment, he kind of wished that he would have stayed on his path.

**2 Months Later After Sakura Knows**

Rain poured down on to the ground beneath Sasuke and Sakura's feet. They had just finished their training for today. Sakura was . . . different now. The Uchiha would peer into her emerald green eyes and they have changed. They didn't sparkle with the kindness and warmth of her soul anymore. The emotion of fear no longer made her optic shake. When she peered dead on, her glare was deadly. Those eyes that used to stare at him with much affection no longer looked at him the same way. Slowly they were burning holes through him as she stood there waiting for Sasuke's next commands. "We're done for today." He emotionlessly said as his onyx optic glanced away.

"But that's not enough." She retorted.

Sasuke spoke again, "I said we're done."

"There's still so m-"

"I said we're done." His voice had clear warning. Sasuke's voice and eyes had cut her off. Yet, she didn't back down like she might have done a few months ago. Her optic remained firm. An odd feeling came inside of him, one he didn't understand. It made him look away from her and walk off, but a little slower because his clothes weighed him down as the bruises and cuts on his body lightly stung.

With Sasuke gone, Sakura sighed as she looked down to the ground. A shaky breath escaped her as she looked to her hands. The kunoichi gulped a little bit, feeling different herself. She wasn't sure but slowly she felt a change inside of her. No longer did she feel like herself. She peered back up. In the midst of the pouring rain, she imagined Sasuke's back to her again. Her heart swelled deep in her chest. "Soon, Sasuke… soon I'm going to get you out of this hell hole, one way or another. I-I just need a little more time to think." When she spoke to herself, that's only when she truly still knew who she was, and why she was here in the first place.

Standing straighter, and placing a deep frown on her face she began to stagger back in herself. "I need to hurry back in; I still have Sasuke to heal and such."

When she stepped inside, she already saw Sasuke there sitting on the futon in dried clothes. Sakura didn't even think about heading to her room and changing into dry clothes, she just automatically went to his side. Sasuke frowned, a tad annoyed at her. "Go change. You're wet and you're going to get my clothes wet."

"I need to heal you though." She told him in a rather blunt tone.

"No, that can wait. You need to go change now."

"No." Sakura persisted.

Sasuke stood up and went to go snatch her hand from hovering over his body to heal him and she blocked his grip from grabbing on to her wrists. A fist went flying into the side of Sasuke's face making him stagger back a few feet. "I'm going to fucken heal you right now whether you like it or not. It's not going to take long, and afterwards I'll go change."

From the inside, he felt somewhat surprised. Sakura punched him and they weren't even training. She was truly standing up for herself, and not taking his shit like she did in the beginning. The change in her was astonishing. This however, conflicted him in a way where he wasn't even sure how to get her to go change first. It frustrated him to no end. "Dammit Sakura, you need to go change right now." The pain throbbing in his jaw was unreal. Thankfully his cool demeanor didn't show that it affected him.

Sakura's shoulders slumped and her eyes rolled, "I told you the healing won't take that long."

"Sasuke's right," a deep voice echoed through her ears, "You need to go change your clothes right now. Your soaking wet and you'll get sick if you don't change right now. Then what good would you be to Sasuke if you're sick?" Madara chuckled as he emerged from the shadows. The way he had chuckled, was almost as if he was mocking Sakura.

When it came to Madara, the pink haired kunoichi still felt some fear through her heart. This man was immortal, even with her improvement in her skills she could not take this man on. She would inevitable be killed. That's why her plan of escape had to be well thought out, and the cooperation of Sasuke wanting to leave was crucial. However, it wasn't necessary because she would find a way to take him by force if she needed to. "Fine, I'll go change." She uttered as she flicked some strands of her sopping hair away from her face. She left a trail of water puddles to her room to go change.

"How is her training, Sasuke?" Madara casually questioned.

Sasuke eased his eyes shut as he sat back down on the futon but further away from the wet spot Sakura had left. "She's made a major improvement over the eight months."

"Her Chakra control?"

"Impeccable."

"Excellent. When Sakura is done healing you, bring her back into the room." The ancient Uchiha ordered.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's simple response.

After Madara left Sasuke was now all alone for the moment. He often preferred it this way. He stewed in his own mind about the things to come, how he would finally get the sweet taste of his vengeance. He would make them pay, he was sure of it. Those were the usual things he went through his mind. Not this time though. They were different thoughts. Sakura has been his teammate before, for about a year practically before he left. He had watched her grow from an annoying girl totally obsessive over him, to someone more mature and willing to better herself, but still a crybaby. Now, it's been eight months and he had watched her grow from that determined crybaby to a girl who didn't even appear to hold much of her emotions anymore. She was changing and Sasuke wasn't even positive if he liked it or not. Why did he even care? He wondered. That was the part that made him the most confused, because he shouldn't care. "Tch," he crinkled his nose in his own self disgust.

Foot steps echoed throughout the narrow hallways. The Uchiha peered up to see Sakura walking back, healed up and dry. Her walk was rather graceful, but the effect of her walk was taken away by the look of emptiness on her face. She sat herself down next to Sasuke. "Better?" she bitterly said.

Sasuke eyes merely narrowed as he peered down to her as she had scooted in rather close. "I need you to remove your shirt so I can get to those wounds that I can't really see." She announced.

Without a word Sasuke eased away from the back of the futon, and pulled down the sleeves to around his elbows and shrugged the rest off. His well toned body displayed before Sakura, that somewhat humane side of her admired his body. However her face remained unchanged and she just started moving her hands across his body, healing the wounds and bruises one by one. The hideout was rather chilly. Sakura could tell by the way his skin puckered. Sakura got up and moved to the other side so she could get his other arm. After she finished there she looked to his jaw, "Do you need me to fix your jaw a little?"

"Go ahead." He said.

Sakura slightly nodded her head a bit as she moved her face to the side of his face and her hand hovered lightly over his face. With the green chakra emitting from her hand the bruise that was forming there disappeared. After she completed healing him, her hand had stayed there for a minute. Maybe… just maybe she should bring it up now. Madara was gone; this would be her perfect chance. "Sasuke," she gently uttered out.

Sasuke knew she had finished healing him, so why was her hand still remaining there? He felt the warmth from her hand and for a moment he felt slightly soothed. Her voice had brought him back and his ominous eyes pointed back to her, "What are you doing?" he said as he shrugged her hand away, and she eased away. "Nothing. . ." Sakura said realizing what she just did.

"Whatever," Sasuke spoke and closed his eyes.

"Come with me," The Uchiha got back up and he put his shirt back on. Sakura peered up a little lost; it seemed he did not wish to speak. He was so cold, distant. Much more than the past, and truthfully this made her heartache ever so slightly now as she just watched him get further and further away from the light. "Where are we going?" the pink haired kunoichi inquired.

He sighed as if she had annoyed him completely. Sasuke turned his back to her and took a few steps away and his hands were tucked into the string of his outfit. His eyes closed for a moment and took one step forward, craning his head back to stare at Sakura, "Madara has told us to meet us in the room."

That didn't sit well with her. Meeting him in a room only meant that Madara was ready to get down to business. Sakura just fluttered her eyes shut as she took in a deep calming breath. She had to calm herself. Her heels clacked on the hard ground as she stood up. Sasuke stepped off, Sakura following close behind him with her head hanging low. So many thoughts just swirled in her mind right now. She was questioning herself some, such as, why did she feel so different, how come it was taking this long to get anywhere with Sasuke, to get him out of here. She knew somewhere deep in her soul, the longer she allowed Sasuke to stay here, the harder it was going to get to bring him from the darkness.

Suddenly she was brought back to reality when there was a pounding at the door. Sakura's eyes peered upward to Sasuke now opening the door. He allowed her to walk in first. Sakura's eyes shifted all around the room. Chills shook her core; this room looked oddly like a morgue. "Ah, good to see you didn't take long."

"His wounds weren't bad; they were very easy to heal." Sakura spoke in a mechanical like tone.

Madara stared to confirm he heard her but he did not speak. He just went and pulled out a table. There was a cloth over a lump; it was formed like a body. She already knew what it was. Sakura didn't need to play the guessing game. "Sasuke says you're improving Sakura. You're close to the level we need you to be. You're also really helping Sasuke with his training as well. Now, we must prepare for the next step."

The next step, she thought.

A large lump came in her throat. Her eyes concentrated on where Madara's hands were after he gripped the sheet. He peeled it back, and it felt like it took an eternity for him to finally take the white sheet away from the body. Underneath it was what she had expected, but still a bit shocking to see. Her eyes closed as she mentally clutched to her stomach. It was sick to see Uchiha Itachi lying there with his skin paled out, sunken in eye sockets, blue lips and finger tips, and the stiffness to his body. Sakura's been in the battle field before, she has seen dead bodies but this was entirely different experience because of what the body was to be used for. She then opened her eyes to see the look on Sasuke's face. There was nothing. He was cool and collected, did it even bother him? "You will be helping with transferring Itachi's eyes, to Sasuke's."

The girl peered back towards Madara, "I thought I was merely going to heal Sasuke's eyes."

"You will be, but in order for Sasuke's plan to work, he has to become stronger. Getting Itachi's eyes will do that." He announced.

And you're really okay with that, Sasuke? You're okay with taking your brothers eyes? Is… that what you want? She thought. Her hands clutched tightly at her sides, her expression to remain unchanging. Whatever feeble emotions were left stewing inside of her bubbled. "Within the next few days, we'll start the preparations. After the surgery you'll heal Sasuke's eyes, and he'll be able to use them much sooner."

"Yes," she spoke softly.

"You sure you want to do this Sasuke?" Madara grinned smugly underneath his mask, that feeling of victory ran through his mind.

Sasuke turned his back to Madara walking away, "Yes."

"Soon, Sasuke, soon," Madara whispered softly to himself for no one to hear.

Sakura trailed after Sasuke. Her eyes stared to his back, what happened in the room had confirmed how far gone he was. "I'm going to my room." She uttered softly.

With that she hurried her pace up to brush past Sasuke. Her face hidden from him, but he looked away himself. He could not stare at Sakura now. There was a conflict of emotions raging inside his body, and for once in a really long time did he feel the stray in his path. That troublesome woman was causing this; he knew he shouldn't have allowed her to come here. He should have just killed her off when he had the chance to. He walked passed her room, and there was a sliver opened. He peered in to stare at the girls back curled up. Sasuke grit his teeth and walked off. Whatever, he thought.

* * *

There was a heavy lump in Sakura's throat. Naruto had uttered the name she wished she could never hear again, but knew as long as that man is still alive, she was never going to get rid of that name from her mind. Her core shook deeply, afraid to ask Naruto what about Madara. The kunoichi feared for Sasuke's life, and even her own. She may have grown and improved now to her master's strength, but she knew she still was no match for Madara. Sasuke could see the anger and agony that pent up in Sakura. The way her stance went rigid and her head lowered. Those onyx eyes peered away from her form, feeling guilty for even thinking of what would have happened if he did not stray from his path of vengeance.

After a moment of silence, her fists balled up even tighter and her eyes shut tight. She finally sent a chilling gaze Naruto's way. He went frigid for a moment seeing such a piercing stare come from her but the hokage stood his ground as his teammate could even give such a glance. Even now, he saw more of a difference of her angry self, it was more calm, and collected which made it feel more cut throat, "What about him?" she whispered ominously.

Naruto took a side view of Sasuke now standing in his cell peering through the bars to look at Sakura's back. The hokage gave a nervous smile and he shook his head towards Sakura, "Um, it's best we don't talk about this here."

Sakura turned her head to the side giving Naruto a suspicious look, "What do you mean."

Scratching the back of his head, he wasn't quite sure how to go about the next sentence he was going to say, "Erm, it's just that this is a matter that Sasuke shouldn't worry about. Not like he can't really do anything about it anyways."

The pink haired kunoichi sighed heavily and pinched her brows turning her back to him, "Then I'm not interested." She uttered coldly.

Just as he figured, Sakura was going to be making a big deal out of this. If there was one thing that hasn't changed was the fact she was very, very stubborn. Naruto was also just very bad at holding out with her. He couldn't be stubborn back towards her. So, the shinobi sighed softly and put his hand against his face and mumbled underneath his breath, "I'll probably get in trouble for this, but whatever. This is for my friends." He said softly.

Being hokage, he has learned a lot about different kind of responsibilities and found out by just following some small rules kept a lot of problems out. Small problems that didn't compare to the stresses he felt now. He wanted those big problems out of the way, and found slowly he lost what he stood for by not wanting to deal with the small problems. This was for his friends and for the sake of their sanity so he just didn't care anymore. "Alright, I'll go ahead and tell you guys, but Sasuke, what you're going to hear don't be bothered by it because you can't do anything about it."

Sasuke now had this strange protectiveness over Sakura. Whenever she spoke about her missions she went on, Sasuke would seem bothered somehow despite the poker face. Whenever the thought of Sakura in danger crossed his mind he felt such an inner turmoil because he hated how he was stuck in here. Not only that but he was tired of being in here as well. Sakura approached Sasuke's cell and she reached her hand out and immediately Sasuke knew to grasp for her dainty but calloused fingers. "Well guys, information has it that Madara has been spotted around the fire country. He's illusive, so… it's hard to really pinpoint his location." Naruto spoke.

That's when the Uchiha tightened his grip on her hand, but dared not look into his fiancé's eyes. In return he also felt her hands grip tightly on to his to the point she might crush his fingers if she squeezed any harder. Suddenly Sakura pulled away and she brushed past Naruto then paused as her shoulders almost met with his but she stood quite shorter than Naruto himself, "Sakura what are you doing."

"Sakura don't you dare think of going out there yourself." Naruto said as he abruptly turned to face her.

"Something has to be done… before…" she grit her teeth viciously.

Naruto grabbed on to her shoulder and he gently pushed her a few steps back. Sakura swiftly swiped his hands away from her and the hard look in Naruto's eyes softened. There was pain trapped in her eyes. "Sakura," Sasuke spoke.

His voice reached her ears which had her own stance ease up. She didn't bother to even glance at Sasuke. Sasuke sighed softly and spoke, "Don't even think about making a move towards him. Even if you are just going to warn him. It's not smart Sakura. You and I both know that you have the strength alone to do it. You'll be endangering yourself, and endangering Naruto too. So, reconsider. Obviously I cannot stop you right now. Just think about it." He said in a calm and even tone of voice.

Sakura's shoulders slumped and lowered her head even further. Once again she could find herself grinding her teeth, seething. She didn't know what to do anymore. This man caused more problems than he probably even realized in itself. A deep sigh escaped from her lips and she perked herself back up. She walked back over to Sasuke and she reached her hands through and gently brushed her fingers through his bangs, Sasuke grabbed her hand and he held it there for the warmth for a moment. "Well, I should go home Sasuke, and get some rest…" she whispered softly.

Sasuke merely nodded his head. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that the Uchiha let go of her hand and she elegantly pulled out. She grabbed up her things and walked out. Once she was gone, Naruto turned his head towards Sasuke and approached. Naruto started to dig through his pocket as he stopped in front of Sasuke's prison cell. "Sasuke, with Madara found, I don't think Sakura is very safe by herself. I trust you Sasuke, and I can get into a lot of trouble from the other kage's for even doing this. But, I'm more concerned about Sakura right now." He said.

Sasuke was slightly confused. Suddenly though, Naruto pulled out something and sounded a lot like metal. He put his hand through the cell, "Open your hand." He said.

The Uchiha peered down and saw what dropped in his hand, a key. Sasuke's heart almost skipped a beat in sheer surprised. He lightly pressed his head back, and looked questionably up towards Naruto. No wonder he said he could get in a lot of trouble doing this. Sasuke was a criminal throughout the entire nation. No one had wanted this man alive, and many were upset that the previous hokage, Tsunade, had allowed for Sasuke to be just kept in prison, no execution or anything. "Are you an idiot?" Sasuke said rather harshly.

"You should already know that." Naruto grinned a little.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Explain to me exactly why you're doing this."

The blond got serious as he then turned his back to Sasuke and started to make his way towards the door, "The answer to that should also be obvious Sasuke. I can't explain much to you, hide that and when you know the time is right, and do what you have to do."

The door shut behind Naruto. Sasuke was left there alone, a key in his hand and freedom just a skip, hop, and dash away. Naruto was putting a lot of trust into Sasuke. He could turn his back once again, if he wanted to. That idiot is so stupid; he gives me a key and trusts me with this key. Humph. . . Sasuke thought. Mentally though, he was thankfully and a little smirk returned on to his face. It almost felt like the old times again. There was a ripping sound of thunder, and a flash of lightning that lit his cell room, Sasuke looked out. So much time has passed, and he paid little attention to what the weather was doing. Through the tiny window, he could see the clouds rolling in. It appeared a storm was going to pass on through.

As Sakura was walking home, she veered her head upward as she heard the cackle of thunder. She had seen the clouds in a far off distance when she walked out at first. Not to mention the wind had a gentle breeze to it, making it slightly chilly out. They were moving in fast, she could see them rolling. Sakura furrowed her brows and just turned her head back forward. Her step was a little faster, wanting to get home before it started raining. The thunder's sound roared through the sky and it sounded even louder than before. Another flash of lightning not too long after the booming sound. About a quarter away from her house, she could hear the pitter patter of rain and the wind picked up. Her pink hair whipped around her face and took that moment to rush the rest of her way home.

Dashing through the streets and alley ways and on top of roof tops, she saw her apartment from a distance. A sigh of relief came because the moment she stood at the door, the rain was hitting hard. Quickly she pushed the door shut behind her and stared towards the ceiling. The apartment was eerily silent despite the blatant thunder outside. The kunoichi just took a relaxing moment to unwind herself. She removed her shoes and started to take some of the outer layers of her clothes off. Her feet touched the cold wooden floor and her rear met with the comfortable couch cushions. Not a moment longer did she ease herself back and curled up into a tight little ball onto the couch. Her green eyes stared into the nothingness in front of her. She hadn't bothered flipping the lights on, the only thing that dimly lit her living room was the small lamp on the table next to the other couch further off into the corner of the room.

Sakura eased her eyes shut, feeling a little cold. So she curled up a little tighter ball in attempts to warm her body up. Yet, it didn't ease the fact that she was completely alone in her. Most times it hadn't bothered her entirely too much. Sakura often preferred to be alone. All she wanted was Sasuke to be here with her, to have his arms wrapped around her slender form. She bit her lip as she just thought of these things, making her only feel even more lost without the Uchiha. Finally her thoughts stopped spinning. Now everything was completely silent, even her mind. She took advantage of this moment to attempt to drift off into sleep. However, the thunder outside was interfering with a complete sleep no matter how hard she tried to drown out the sounds.

The small lamp lights were flickering on and off. This made Sakura finally get up off of the couch to go check outside to see exactly how bad the storm was. She could hear it, but it might be worse from what she was listening too. Just as she figured, the howling wind was whipping small little pebbles and dust around, and in many directions. The way the air blow the rain around made it almost impossible to see. Sakura sighed slightly miffed at the weather. It was rare that the land of fire received any type of rain like this. So, to see something like this it . . . it . . . wasn't right. Upstairs came the sound of glass being shattered and at that same moment the small lamp shut off. "Great." She uttered to herself as she did her best to run up those stairs to see what had broken her window.

Honestly, she thought it may have been a small rock to crash through her window. Sakura first went and grabbed a candle from her bathroom and lit it so she could have some small form of light as she walked into the room. She set the candle down onto her vanity. Glass was everywhere in her room, yet she could not see anything that might have broken it. She searched the floor for something, but ended up slicing her hand on a piece of glass. She hissed underneath her breath, "Shit."

With her hand gushing blood, Sakura knew she should probably go wash this first before she started to heal it, plus, she was going to need some light to see how deep the wound on her hand is. Carefully she stepped across the floor to hopefully not step on any glass shard. Even with as careful as she was going, something blocked her way and she tripped forward. She growled deeply for a moment wondering what in the world could have been in her way. There was nothing on the floor when she had walked in. So, what in the world was that? Sakura's eyes desperately searched over to see what had been in her way. What she saw took her for complete surprise.


	6. Chapter 6: The Unerasable Wound

**AN: Yup, here's another chapter about a month after I have updated. With school being out I was able to write it up a bit faster than normal. I'm hoping maybe to keep my inspiration up a bit more and release another chapter before I start summer classes. I kinda doubt it though. Anyways, there might be a few mistakes that slipped through. I re-read it a few times and got the mistakes I saw, but of course I myself won't notice all of them. ^^;**

* * *

The chilling breeze poured into the room. The hard rain was beating onto the side of the house, escaping to flood the wooden floors of her room. The light circuits had been broken because of the harsh wind blowing. More thunder and lightning scattered and boomed across the sky. Plus, she had just tripped and her hand was bleeding. The storm had turned out to be too troublesome for its own good. An inconvenience that made the kunoichi a little suspicious, but in reality was just her mind playing tricks on her. Sakura felt around the foot she had tripped over in her dark room. The wind had blown out the candle in her room making it difficult to see. The pink haired woman was able to gently peer up to make out the face in front of her. Yet, she really couldn't. "You're such a klutz." A deep voice spoke softly. She recognized the voice to be… "S-Sasuke?"

The woman was really shocked to see Sasuke in her home. She furrowed her brows a she quickly gathered herself up onto her feet to get a closer look. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here in the first place? And why in the hell didn't you just use the front door instead of making me think there was an intruder in my home?" the last part of the sentence she spoke had some callous tone in it. There had been no reason to give her a heart attack.

The Uchiha sighed softly as he went to sit on her bed. The mattress sank in with Sasuke's body weight, and squeaked a little. Sakura sat next to him, completely forgetting about the fact her hand was gushing her vital fluid. "Hmph thought you would be happier to see me." He whispered softly.

Sakura frowned deeply, "Don't make it sound as if I didn't want to see you. I'm just surprised is all."

The woman closed her eyes; she would just enjoy his presence for now. She wasn't sure how or why he was here. Sasuke could probably get into some serious trouble for doing this. Naruto could punish him, or worse Naruto could be the one punished for having the international criminal out of his cell before his sentence was up. Yet, it didn't quite matter too much because who would know? The pink haired woman pulled in closely to Sasuke and her head rested on the top of his chest. Subtle warmth had filled her cold heart and body. A large warm hand had picked up her wounded palm. Sakura eased back gently to watch him bring her hand to his eye level. "Look at your hand, it's bleeding . . ."

"Yeah, that's your fault." She uttered underneath her breath.

"How is it my fault? You're the one who wasn't careful enough." He retorted

Sakura pulled another deep frown, "Because you broke through my window, that's why. If you used my front door like a normal person this wouldn't have happened."

Sasuke didn't say anything after that. Silence filled the room. It was eerie. An odd feeling came through the room that made this not seem right anymore. The woman's guts twisted and turned inside of her. She felt a little sick, but figured because it might have been from the loss of blood. Thinking about it more of course, it hadn't made since because she hadn't even lost two pints of blood yet. Sasuke had taken her blanket and put it onto the palm of her hand. He gently squeezed. The pressure would stop the bleeding. The pink haired kunoichi attempted to smile softly, but she couldn't even manage that. She tucked some strands of her hair away from her face. She peered upward and stared to Sasuke's face, "Thank you." She whispered softly.

A little hum just came from Sasuke. The pressure he applied to her hand was getting tougher. At first, she hadn't taken much notice to it. A sting came on to the wound though once he had pressed down too hard. Sakura cringed a little bit, "O-ow, Sasuke. You're pressing a little too. . ."

There was a fluctuation of chakra, one that spilled out that wasn't Sasuke's. Sakura gasped and quickly backed up and away from the man on her bed. She grit her teeth tightly, she yanked and pulled her hand back. Yet the grip had refused to let her go, so she punched the imposter in the face. The moment her hand was pulled away she quickly jumped backwards. There was a puff of smoke, and a cruel chuckle that had erupted. "That took a while." He said, "I think your slipping, little Sakura." He grinned behind the white mask.

The sharingan and rinnigan eyes glowed in the dark. Uchiha Madara was the intruder in her home. Sakura stood there with her fists clutched tightly together and her feet firmly planted into the wooden floor beneath her. Sakura felt a fool. Seriously, how could I not sense his different chakra from the start, fuck! She berated herself in her thought. Madara effortlessly lurched forward. His balled up fist sent flying her way. Sakura easily knelt down and dodged the punch. The Uchiha's right foot came up and kicked her back. Her body slammed against the wall. Sakura cringed at the shooting pain in her spine. Again, Madara went for another attack. He enjoyed seeing the look of surprise and pain on her face. That white mask of his hid that wicked grin. Sakura lunged to the right side, crawling away as quickly as possible. The glass on the floor pierced the skin of her legs. Blood tickled down her pale flesh.

Sakura took in a deep breath as she tore the pole from her bed and viciously swung it back and forth. When she jabbed it forward, it disappeared into Madara's body. He had taken a hold of it and attempted to force her grip out of it. Those lips of hers pursed tightly together and she tried to jab it one more time. Suddenly he had lifted it up and Sakura was dangling in the air. She loosened her grip against the pole and slid down along the pole. Her feet stuck out forward and with one might kick to the jaw he stumbled back into her vanity and everything crumbled beneath him. Sakura jumped back and she stumbled away. Madara's body suddenly disappeared into a cloud of smoke. The pink haired kunoichi's eyes widened. "W-where did he go!"

Looking around frantically for the ancient Uchiha, he was nowhere in sight. "Ah, below!" immediately she leaped up into the air, and on to the edge of the bed she had stumbled back. Madara flew forward and she rolled over to the side to dodge. Roughly he grabbed her wrist and then took a hold of her neck. Through the cracked mask he glared down towards her. Sakura's heart was beating a million miles a second. Was this where she was going to finally die? Helplessly choked to her bed, and ultimately being killed through suffocation. So it seemed. No tears were brought to her eyes though; she just furrowed her brows and lips formed into a deep brow. Yet, she stared with pure malicious towards Madara. He was bemused by her strong look despite the current situation she was in, "You look confident for someone who is not in a position to show such confidence." His voice echoed with brutality through her ears though it was calm "Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you . . . yet."

"T-then what are you going to do?" she managed to cough out.

Sakura's calloused fingers gripped around Madara's gloved hands. With her strength alone she was able to latch free from most of his grip, so she could breath. "I just dropped by to see how you were doing." He chuckled, obviously the reason why he wasn't there. The serious stare in her eyes read that she wasn't amused by his ability to joke with her. "Actually, I just wanted to warn you that I'm going to get back what rightfully belongs to me."

Something in her mind snapped the moment he hinted about Sasuke. Her eyes widened and in a blink of an eye Sakura had kicked Madara off of her body and out through the window. Sakura leapt from her lying position on to her feet. Quickly she ran out through the window and stared across the roof top where Madara stood, "No! You're not taking Sasuke back! Your mind games will no longer work on him! Sasuke is better now! No! No! No!" she repeatedly shouted towards him. Her breathing was heavy, a pure wild look written across her face.

"Heh," Madara looked down to his gloved hand, which the cloth was now being soaked in the rain, "Look at you, all hysterical. Do you really believe that Sasuke came here of his own free will in the end? You forced him out."

After losing her cool for that one moment, she quickly calmed herself down. There was just something about Sasuke being taken away from her again, that would make the emotions flood back into her and act hysterical. Sakura did recall that day. However, they wandered around before even returning to the village. She ultimately given Sasuke the choice and she didn't force him to come back to the village. "Don't you try that manipulative bullshit on me, Sasuke came to the village of his own accord!" Sakura declared loudly.

An evil laugher escaped Madara, "I'll let you think that for now . . ."

There was a blinding puff of smoke, and he was gone. All that, just for a warning? Sakura didn't want to believe so. Paranoia shot through her mind. The pink haired kunoichi still kept a collected look on her face. That frown just appeared deeper, and her fists clutched tighter by her sides. Against the cold rain she darted back off to the prison. Madara probably took Sasuke. That thought alone wanted to make her tear up, all that hard work and everything she put into bringing him back, for not. The rate her heart was beating, felt like a million times a second, as she traveled her way with high pace towards the jail center. Sakura landed in front of it out of breath. It felt like an eternity as she reached for the door handle. With a firm twist and a harsh yank the door busted open.

No light flooded through the open door, the rain hid the moon and stars. Her vision was heavily obscured by her long hair that dripped over her face and the water that dripped from her lashes. Plus the lack of light didn't improve her vision much further. She paused half way towards his cell; she noticed the door was open. "W-what?"

Quickly she ran over and searched the cell. "Sasuke." She uttered calmly, "Sasuke where are you?"

Her hands searched frantically on the front of the door. The clinging sound of something dropping echoed off the walls. The woman fell to her knees and felt around for what dropped. Skimming over the skinny body and the ridges at the end she then knew it was the key. Sasuke got out by himself? She thought.

Veins popped on Sakura's forehead when she clenched her teeth tight. Her fingers curled around the key so tightly it crumbled in her palm. Sakura's head slumped, "Have I . . . failed? Did Sasuke go back to Madara?" she whispered to herself.

For the first time in a long time, did she truly feel the heart ache that she was feeling now. Something far worse than she has ever felt before. Did the torment she went through, was it really for nothing? The burning images of that day flooded her mind making her clutch her head, "FUCK!" she bellowed. The echo of her voice ran a few times within her head.

**That Faithful Day**

The bitter cold of outside did not stop Sasuke from enjoying the peace it brought in his troubled mind. The seasons changed, but snow hardly ever fell around this area. There were just several overcast days with frigid temperatures. Yet, Sasuke sat there watching his warm breath manifest into the steam. Chills puckered around the base of his neck, the cold was getting to him. Sasuke didn't care though. He would just continue to sit out there to enjoy his alone time. He refused for any thoughts to flood his mind. That would only spoil his mood and ruin the purpose of why he came out here in the first place. A calming breath in, he closed his eyes as he leaned further back again the rock and eventually just laid completely on top of it. Sasuke's onyx eyes closed.

As quickly as he closed his eyes, he soon felt that he would be able to drift off into a gentle sleep. One where it was not filled with troubling nightmares, for his mind was empty. Someone however was coming here to interrupt his time to himself. A heavy sigh escaped from him as he just went to see how much longer he would be able to take this time to himself. He was probably going to send whoever was coming his way, away anyways. Once the person got closer, he was able to tell who it was. He remained silent however.

Sakura stood there with her hand to her mouth as she stared at Sasuke. He was just lying on a rock and failed to understand how he was just able to lie there in the cold. As she stood right here, her teeth were chattering like crazy and her brows furrowed deeply. "Sasuke, what are you doing out here?" she questioned.

"None of your business." He answered simply.

Sakura gulped deeply. She thought this was a good chance to bring up the subject to Sasuke. They were far from the hideout, and it was just her and Sasuke. Perfect timing, but she would have to ease into the conversation though. "It's cold out here though, you'll get sick." She said.

The pink haired kunoichi eased her way towards the Uchiha. Eventually, she stood right behind him. At this point Sasuke knew that he wasn't going to be getting rid of Sakura anytime soon. So, he sat on up but his back was still to her. The shinobi leaned into his lap with his elbows pressing into his knees and hands into his chin. Sakura then leaned against the rock, and she turned her sight over to the side to stare at Sasuke. For a brief moment his eyes wandered over towards Sakura. Quickly he pinched his brows and his lips formed into a sour frown. "What the hell do you want?" he uttered.

"I just . . ." Sakura paused in her speech, unsure of herself, "Wanted to talk to you about something." She finally was able to breathe out.

The moment it seemed Sasuke was going to turn and give his attention, he turned his head to the other way. Madara came walking down from the north direction. He had left? Sasuke hadn't known where he went. Usually he announces when he'll leave and what time he plans to return. Sakura had felt his chakra and her head turned to the side and she saw him walking down too. Mentally she was seething with anger. Of course! He has to come the moment I really need to talk to Sasuke. She growled in her thoughts.

"Ah, perfect. I don't need to go rounding the both of you up." Madara's heavy voice had Sakura's shoulders slump.

Sasuke's onyx eyes peered up with light interest at Madara. "Today's the day."

Slowly a smirk breached Sasuke's lips. His hands twitched with delight. Power was in his grasp, vengeance just one step closer to being completed. Sakura on the other hand was feeling the complete opposite. Her eyes darted to another location in attempt to hide what she was truly feeling on the inside, how her heart just fell and sank into the pits of her stomach. How everything from the inside just went cold. It was possible that her body was getting ready to shake, but she stopped herself. She just choked it down and looked back up. By the time Sasuke veered his head towards her, he only saw a blank look on her face. "Follow me." Madara's words interrupted the silence.

His back turned towards them as he walked away. Sasuke was quick to follow his step and walked beside Madara. Sakura hadn't stepped off so quickly. The Uchiha noticed her lack of step ten seconds after the pink haired kunoichi decided to make a move. Sasuke slightly craned his head to the side to state at Sakura from the corner of it. He attempted to examine the look on her face. Other than the look of enthusiasm for what she had to do, he could not read much emotion from her expression. It was a little difficult for him to believe that this was once the girl where her every emotion was completely visible to him. Sasuke's gaze turned forward to watch the road in front of him. He shouldn't be bothering what Sakura was feeling anyways.

The group of three entered inside of the hideaway. The light compared to the indoors was much darker. After being in the bright light for quite some time, their eyes had to readjust to the darkness before their surroundings became clear to them. With each step they took, Sakura felt the impending doom wash over her. She was nervous to be doing this at all. Not because she thought she lacked the skill to do this, but because of the lack of emotion Sasuke had with taking his brothers eyes. It wasn't right, and even more she realized how far this young man had fallen. What could possibly make it even more unbearable? That Sasuke even knew this himself. Sakura's stomach wrenched with despair the further she continued to think about it.

Sakura had been just so lost and wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn't even noticed that they had reached the room. The sound of Madara opening the door had brought Sakura's attention back to reality. Sasuke stood in front of her, his tall body blocked the rest of the room until he fully walked in. The room was quite chilly. Even for Sasuke. All he did though was just shove his hands into his pockets and looked away. In the middle of this room there were two tables. One was empty and the other one beside it had the white sheet and underneath that white sheet was Itachi's body. The cold room had kept his body from rotting away, which in turn kept the horrible stench of death away too. So the smell that filled Sakura's nose must have been her wild imagination. Once more did her stomach do a churn of illness. Her eyes lightly closed as she then pushed all feelings and emotions into the back of her throat. This was the only thing she could do. She was just tearing down on the inside.

Immediately Sasuke already knew what to do. He walked over to the table that was right beside his brothers. For a moment he glanced at it. Seeing his dead body had brought many emotions inside of the Uchiha. There was guilt in him because of what he had done to his brother, and the fact he denied the wishes that he had wished Sasuke to do. Then there was hatred and anger because of what he had done. Then the truth that had lied behind it. Sasuke felt sick just thinking about how the village he had once admired and wanted to protect, could allow his brother to do such a horrible thing. They allowed him to go through so much torment.

Sasuke just looked away from the body to maneuver up on to the table. I'll get revenge, your death won't be in vain big brother, he thought to himself.

He lied back against the table. The cool stainless steel had the hair on the back of his neck stand. Chills had then proceeded to race along his spine. He felt this all through the material of his clothes. In his peripheral vision he had seen Madara walk to the table side of his brother. He picked the sheet up to reveal Itachi's lifeless body in front of Sakura's eyes for the second time, and probably the last as well. Sakura had still been on the other side of the room, just staring at everything in front of her like it was so surreal. "Well, are you going to do this or not?" Madara spoke suddenly breaking the long silence that had been between them.

"Yeah," Sakura responded rather vacantly.

A soft sigh had just escaped from her lips as she slowly stepped her way to Sasuke's side. She stood a few good feet from the table on Sasuke's side. Her green eyes just stared with disdain. Sakura really didn't want to do it, but she had to. Her emotions were on melt down right now, and she had to just become desensitized about the situation and everything around her. She scooted closer and she stared directly down to Sasuke. His eyes were open, and they were clearly staring at the ceiling. For a second they turned to stare right at Sakura's. Her fingers clutched on to the stainless steel table. Madara pushed the cart in the pink haired kunoichi's direction, "Here's everything you will need."

Madara then made his way to walk out of the room. Sakura turned around, "Where are you going?"

"You're a well rounded kunoichi; you don't need me to babysit you and guide you through the process, do you?" Madara casually spoke.

Sakura was quick to answer a firm, "No, of course not. Just didn't think you would trust me."

Madara just heckled lightly before turning back around to leave the room without responding to Sakura's last statement. Now that just left her and Sasuke in the room. She sighed heavily as she saw the tubes with liquid in them, the needles, and the other tools she was going to be using and they were all conveniently labeled. Sakura pulled out one of the tubes, the label had read anesthetic. Measuring it out in the shot, and attaching the needle she looked down to Sasuke, "I need you to remove your shirt, before I proceed. Unless you want a messy shirt." She told Sasuke.

Without a word, the Uchiha eased himself back up and started to shrug his shirt off of his body before he completely took it off. He carelessly let it drop the side of the table and landed elegantly on the floor. He eased back down on the stainless steel table and thankfully it wasn't as cold as when he first laid on it. His body temperature had warmed it up enough for him. He gazed his way towards Sakura and saw her with the needle in hand. "This is the anesthetic I'm going to be using. I'm not exactly sure what it will do or won't do. It will either numb your body, and you'll be awake while the procedure is being done, or it might put you to sleep. As I said, I'm not entire sure. I didn't make these." She told him.

Sasuke just continued gaze, no real or actual response from him. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" she whispered.

The fact that she was attempting to ask Sasuke for his reassurance on taking his brothers eyes pissed him off. Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed and harsh words spilled from his mouth, "Don't question what I'm going to do Sakura, this is my choice, my decision. I told you before; I'm not going to let anyone get in the way of my revenge. Now just do it."

Sakura felt lost, he was sure about this. How unfortunate that revenge has consumed him. Sasuke had looked away just feeling flustered. He was absolutely sure about this and everything and everyone he was in contact with were just absolute tools to him, and nothing more. Yet, Sakura had made him question his motives a few times now that she has been here. She hadn't even quite questioned his motives but it was just the change he had seen in her. However, after he got his brothers eyes inserted into him, he was no longer going to question himself. That was that.

Heart beating slowly, Sakura steadied herself. Her hands were shaking and she had to stop them from trembling before she stuck the needle into Sasuke's veins. A band was tightened around his bicep, so she could get a clearer look at his veins. After spotting one, Sakura inserted the needed into his vein. Sasuke lightly cringed as he felt the cold liquid get inserted into his veins. Once Sakura pushed all the anesthetic in she removed the needle and cleaned up the area. She fixed everything around the table all the while looking at Sasuke to see what this anesthetic would do to him. Hopefully it would work fast, for her sake. The longer she found herself in here the more felt she was about to go insane. It hadn't helped that she had been bottling up all of her emotions either.

After preparing the tools she planned to use, she turned to Sasuke to see his eyes had closed and his entire body was relaxed. Ah good, it worked fast. I guess I should get to work then, Sakura thought.

Licking her lips she wandered over towards Itachi's lifeless body. The spoon like tool in her hands as she stared blankly towards his face. Sakura bit her bottom lip and inched it towards his face. Her fingers touched the cold flesh and she leaned in close. Her fingers spread his eyes open to reveal the empty and obvious dead stare from them. Sakura felt absolutely sick as she carefully angled the spoon like tool to scoop out his eyes. Hearing the disgusting sound of it popping out she had resisted the urge to throw up. The same exactly thing happened when she had done the other eye. Both of them were put in a sterilized jar and quickly she had to recover Itachi's body because no longer could she stand looking at that. She walked herself towards Sasuke and she stared down at him. This was it, that moment of truth. Sakura didn't know if she could live with herself after she has done this.

A few tedious hours later, Sakura was finishing up. She was wrapping the bandages around Sasuke's eyes. She gulped as she noticed his body twitching. He was beginning to awaken. Sakura stood there feeling as lifeless as Itachi did over there on the table. Slowly she turned her head away and walked to the door where Madara just appeared. Not even turning her gaze to glare at him, she just brushed pass him to go cope in her own room.


	7. Chapter 7: Breaking Down, Breaking Out

**A/N: Hello my dear readers. I am sorry for the long delay of this chapter. I wish I could write faster, or get less writers block. This one took a while because I'm horrible with fight scenes. This is the longest fight scene I've ever written and longest chapter I have have ever written. So please enjoy.**

**Also, this starts off from a "flash back" point and then transfers to present point a bit later on the chapter.**

* * *

A few days after Sakura had transferred Sasuke's eyes, she has not left her room once. Sakura felt completely ill and unsure of herself. Her mind had been rambling with many thoughts. Several of those thoughts had been belittling herself, questioning who she was, and why did she even do this in a first place. The pink haired kunoichi sobbed until she couldn't sob anymore for two days straight. On the fourth day where she had finally lifted her head to stare at something other than her pale legs, she wanted to cry again. The young woman wanted to feel grief, and sorrow. She wanted to feel something, because at the moment Sakura no longer felt human.

The only feelings she felt was anger. So much rage filled her, about the situation and about what a horrible man Madara is. Other than that initial feeling inside of her, Sakura felt nothing. It was like someone had taken a bucket of water and washed all the beautiful chalk drawings off the sidewalk. Sakura gently put her hand on her head as she pushed herself off from the bed. Her entire body was a bit creaky because she hasn't left her position in days. Sakura opened the door softly and stepped into the hall. They were dimly lit, reminding her of the time when she had first attempted to retrieve Sasuke. Her teeth grit when she thought of her failure. The woman's eyes remained eerily calm despite the shape of her mouth. After a few moments of standing there she made a calm pace down the hallway. Madara was gone. Sakura felt his presence was far from here. _Good, now is my chance to take Sasuke back myself whether he likes it or not. _She delicately looked around her brows pinched ever so slightly. Sasuke wasn't located in the main room. He wasn't located anywhere else inside the hideout. That meant the Uchiha must be outside somewhere.

After following the maze like halls to the large door that blocked the light from coming in, Sakura found herself stepping outside already. She was greeted by a chilly breeze brushing through her silky strands of pink hair. The clouds caused for a gentle overcast blocking out a lot of the sunlight. A warmth was in the air making the breeze feel like a refreshing splash of cold water on the face. The weather was close to ideal. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. Sasuke was off in the distance, she felt him. Also his figure was small in the distance but she was sure it was him. Her green eyes intently burned into Sasuke's back. Sakura made a bee line towards Sasuke. She had something to say to him and she wasn't going to let anything get her way. Not anymore, and if Sakura was going to have to use force she was going to use force.

Again all the Uchiha wanted on this day was to simply relax and enjoy himself. The day was too perfect for him to pass by and just relax to himself. There was no one around to bug him. Staring up towards the overcastted sky and watching the clouds slowly starting to float on by made him feel so serene. That was a feeling and emotion that hardly ever came by him. Always feeling so troubled and anger always swelling in his stomach. Having these moments to himself made him feel human again, if only for just a short while. Soon that feeling went away when he felt Sakura's presence approaching him. She didn't stand behind him like she would have; she rounded in to the front to face him. Sasuke's eyes fell onto her and he sighed irritably. For a while now, Sakura has been approaching him nonstop. Yet something has always happened where she would become interrupted. "What the hell do you want?" he asked as his eyes furrowed deeper.

Finally she was in front of him. The pink haired kunoichi stood with her hair that had grown out some reaching her shoulders. At first Sasuke glanced to her feet but as he traveled up towards her body he came to a stop at her eyes. Something inside him sank as he came into eye contact with Sakura. The expression he wore didn't show his concern though, "Sasuke I've been meaning to tell you something." Her voice was eerily composed, "You're an idiot."

Those next words that had spilled from her mouth had completely shocked him. His eyes narrowed, "Watch what you're saying."

"I know exactly what I'm saying." She replied, "I know the secret Sasuke. I know what happened in your past. I was kept this secrete even from Naruto and Kakashi. You're such a fool for going down the path you have gone down."

Sasuke grit his teeth, "Tch, I should have known there was an ulterior motive to you coming here. Be gone."

"I'm not leaving Sasuke. I came here with all intentions of you coming back with me." Her hand reached out to grab Sasuke's shirt. She roughly pulled him close where her eyes burned deeply into his charcoal optic.

His hand roughly held to hers and tore her away from him, "It's none of your business what path I have chosen."

"Maybe not but do you really think your brother want you to go this way?" Sakura spoke.

Sasuke looked away with his brows pinched further as anger swelled inside of him. "I don't care."

Pain emitted from Sasuke's cheek and went throughout his jaw. His eyes wickedly glared towards her. Sakura punched him square in the jaw and there wasn't even a moment's hesitation when she had done so. When he compared it to the moment when she had first arrived here and she was to fight him, there was always hesitance in her movements from the beginning. As he angered her, and challenged her, there would be fewer hesitances. Now though, she went straight for the punch. The Uchiha felt a little shock from Sakura but the look in her eyes; he should have sensed it from before. "How can you not care about what your brother says!"

The amount of rage in Sakura's belly was intense. Her entire body felt on fire from ferocity. "He was your brother! You're doing this for the revenge for your brother. How can you not care for him? He loves you and he didn't tell you the truth because he knew you would react this way!" Sakura growled, "You're a fucken idiot! You're blind! You're so stupid! You're doing everything your brother was _trying _to protect you from. How can you say you care for your brother?"

Rubbing the punch out from his cheek he cruelly glared towards Sakura, "You're arrogant Sakura. You have no right to shout the shit your spouting."

"Don't you care for him?" Sakura said as she calmed down some going back to her calm self.

Sasuke didn't answer her but she went on spouting more of her shit, shit he didn't want to hear. "If my words don't affect you Sasuke, then maybe my fists will. You're coming back with me whether you like it or not."

Such a cruel laugher escaped Sasuke's lips. "I like to see you try, Sakura. You have always been the weaker one. You _always _will be the weaker one."

Sakura did not take kind to those words. Every fiber of her being aimed to prove him wrong. She came charging head first with her fist wind back. Sasuke stood there all ready to block or dodge her attack. His onyx eyes narrowed as he expected her to come forward like a fool. Within a blink of an eye Sakura had disappeared from his vision. He hadn't sensed her so he couldn't predict where she could be coming from next. As soon as he turned around behind him he had a foot smashing right into his face. The Uchiha flew back far into the trees. Before he could crash into one of the trees he was able to easily rebound himself. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. The pink haired kunoichi had those fierce but composed eyes. That factor made it hard to read Sakura's movements, to read her mind. She used to be such an open book. _What happened? _He thought quietly to himself. "You forgot who has trained me over these long months Sasuke. You and Madara, so it's extremely unwise to underestimate me now."

It was true; her training with Tsunade was beneficial to her. Sakura was very well versed with her strength. However her specialty was in the medical arts which made her less of a fighter than Sasuke and Naruto were. While that was bad, it was also good because she had the advantage of healing herself because she knew how too. Someone like Sasuke couldn't do it himself. "Are you just going to stand there, or are we going to fight?" Sakura called. Her voice haunted his ears. This extreme change was fucking him up and he despised himself for it. How could such a drastic change make him feel like he cared more than he did? He didn't care at all. He wasn't supposed to care at all.

"Tch." Sasuke spat to the side. His hand rested onto the hilt of his sword. The metal scraped against the hilt when he pulled the sword out. The veins along his knuckles popped out as he gripped the sword tightly. Nothing but seriousness was in his eyes as he spotted Sakura through the thicket of the trees. He stepped off with ease. In a flash he was already in front of Sakura with his sword raised and ready to slash down. The young woman easily stepped off to the side to avoid the steel blade. She proceeded to jump up into the air. Gracefully she landed on to the tree branch behind her. Sasuke wasn't too far behind though. He came out from the sides thrusting his sword right near her face. The pink haired kunoichi eased her head back and then kicked Sasuke on the side. For a moment she thought she hit him but he was gone in a cloud of smoke. "Where…" she uttered underneath her breath.

A shower of kunai came pouring down overheard. Sakura's brows furrowed as she went to jump out of the way. However she wasn't quite fast enough to dodge in time and one of the kunai ended up slashing her arm. Blood oozed from the wound all the way down her arm. It stained her creamy flesh and she felt a slight sting in her arm. Sakura hissed underneath her breath and chose to ignore the pain. For a moment she stood there before the ground was beginning to crumble underneath her; Sakura winded her fist and crashed it into the ground. The dirt cracked further, flying up with the force of Sakura's punch. Large pieces of rock and dirt flew high in the air. Every piece landed this way and that. Soon the chaos started to subside. Amongst the settling dust she spotted Sasuke. She kicked a large rock out of the way to reveal Sasuke getting ready for his next attack. Hot flames spewed from his lips and in Sakura's direction. Quickly she brought up her arms to shield her from the flames. Once they died down Sasuke looked in front of him but she wasn't there any longer. Sasuke spun around quickly to have Sakura right there in his face. Her fist met into the rock behind him and it shattered into dust. That easily could have been his face if he hadn't pushed his head to the side. Beneath him he prepared himself to thrust his sword through her stomach. That would certain end this fight quickly. Sakura was able to predict that move and with her free hand she grabbed onto the blade. Her other hand hit a pressure point making him let go of the sword. In that instance she tossed it far back into the trees. "Heh…" Sasuke was quite amused.

Pain began to spread through Sakura's arms. Through clenched teeth she groaned and closed her eyes. She opened them to peer down to see that Sasuke had trapped Sakura's fist in his hand. With his strength alone he was crushing the bones in her wrist. At this point she would have panicked but with her calm mind it was pure reflex when she sent her heel deep into Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha coughed achingly. Blood and saliva dribbled down his chin and it was that moment when Sakura too advantage of releasing her grip from Sasuke's hand. She stood up to kick Sasuke in the side of his head but now he grabbed her ankle. Sakura landed on her back knocking the very wind from her breath. Her free leg she pushed it into his stomach again. Hacking even harder now, Sasuke let go of Sakura completely. With her unwounded hand she crawled away from Sasuke. Her breath was unsteady in her attempt to get away from him. _Sasuke is in pain, I must have damaged some of his vital organs. I'll use this chance to heal my wrist. I won't really be able to fight without it… _she thought.

Through the veil of his raven colored locks he saw Sakura's hand on her wrist. One hand was to his mouth and the other on his stomach. A green chakra emitted from her hand. Sasuke's lips curled with anger. He pushed through the agony to go breath another fire ball on to her. He could not let her heal her wrist. That was his advantage if he was going to be winning this fight at all. Struggling to get up as the flames were still going, he coughed a few more time. Sakura was gone. Sasuke hissed underneath his breath. He quickly spotted her chakra and came sprinting through the forest. The chirping sounds of his chidori could be heard from miles away. It was loud and echoed through the thicket of the trees. So much pain spread through his body as he was running. In the distance he spotted Sakura's pink hair. Speeding up faster and faster he was soon behind her. He saw he head turn as she was running, which wasn't exactly a good thing to do because she ended up falling over a stump causing her to tumble down.

Sasuke leapt upwards and down. Her green eyes peered upwards and looked around by any means of escape. The lack of fear in her eyes confused Sasuke even further and his hand stopped only mere inches from her face. Sakura was now puzzled by his lack of hesitation. Only a year ago did he not hesitate when he was about to killer her. Now they were in the same situation but this time he hesitated. "You hesitated." She spoke softly.

A grin spread across her face in that moment, "Bad mistake Sasuke."

With her foot she swept to the side to trip Sasuke. His mind went back into the same mind set from before. His brows stitched tightly together and the wrinkles on his forehead were quite prominent. Sakura attempted to start healing her wrist again but Sasuke took out the kunai from his holsters. His kunai pinned Sakura to the tree. The ripping sound of cloth was loud in her ears as she forced herself away from the tree. Just by mere seconds she avoided the kunai that probably would have hit her head. Only one hand was available to her to use for this fight. At least until she could find a proper space to heal her hand quickly. There wasn't as much pain in her hand right now because she had healed it some but it was still of no use to her.

No mercy was coming from the Uchiha at this point. He attacked relentless attack after relentless attack. His sword was left behind so it was Taijutsu match up. Fists were flying. He got a few hits across Sakura's face. Blood even trickled down the side of her lips. Bruises formed on her skin. With her weak wrist it was hard for Sakura to even land a counter attack. Sakura had used her free hand to jump back and kick Sasuke underneath the chin. Of course he went flying up into the air. Unfortunately Sakura was too out of breath at the moment to run off to go heal her wrist up. Instead she decided to blend in with the tree using a cloaking jutsu. Silently she caught her breath as she heard Sasuke moving around in attempts to find her. Sakura lapped her bottom lip gently as she glanced over from the side. He paused on the side of the tree she was hiding on. She made sure to quietly breathe. His onyx eyes narrowed in her direction. Sakura crumbled over when Sasuke pushed his fist deep into her stomach. "Nng!"

The pink haired kunoichi crumbled over in absolute pain then. She clenched her teeth tightly falling down to her knees. They dug deep into the ground beneath her and she clutched onto her stomach. Sasuke's large hand clutched her throat and slammed her back against the hard surface behind her. Once more he found himself staring into the empty eyes of Sakura. This time it didn't bother him, the blood lust roaring through his body was intense. She needed to make his mind switch, "Sasuke…"

His hand around her throat made it difficult for her to breathe and speak to him. Sakura tried so hard to talk, "Why are you doing this Sasuke? He really did love you… you're brother. The village isn't like that anymore…" Sakura whispered softly.

"None of you were ever my friend. You were always laughing at the pain of my clan! All of you leaf villagers are sick, and disgusting!" He shouted madly.

Sasuke's digits dug deeper into her flesh. His nails were quite sharp and she felt the small sting of it along her skin. Sakura choked lightly. It wasn't working, "If I didn't care about . . . you Sasuke then I . . . wouldn't be here now would I?"

Finally the grip of his hand eased around her neck. An expression of hesitation in his eyes was what she was looking for. A smirk curled against her lips as she elbowed Sasuke right in the nose. The younger Uchiha brother hissed in absolute pain. Rage filled inside of him because he was upset over the fact that he had been tricked so. Sakura fled the scene and hid her chakra. Sasuke could not locate her at this point so she probably went to go heal her wrist that was leaving her incapacitated. Sasuke once again went off to find Sakura, to even find the smallest amount of her chakra. Nothing could be found, not a single lasting trace. Sasuke hissed underneath his breath, clearly un-amused by the things occurring around him right now. The Uchiha set off to go search for Sakura, she couldn't be too far from him. By the time he reached her however, she probably would have healed her wrist by then.

In fact Sakura was only a few yards away healing her wrist. It hadn't taken too long at this point because she had been able to heal it here and there during the fight with Sasuke. Soon she had felt him rearing rather close to the tree she was hiding herself behind. At this point the Uchiha had been so close she heard his quiet footsteps. The way the leaves and sticks crunched beneath every step he took made her guess how close she was. Slowly she peered over to the side to stare out from past the tree. Her plan was to jump out of nowhere and attack Sasuke. To her dismay though when she looked over she had not seen Sasuke there, at all, "What?" she uttered underneath her breath.

Her heart skipped a bit as she felt cold metal gliding along the side of her body. It was pure instinct and gut feeling that had her move over to dodge Sasuke's attack. Sasuke slashed sideways to get her again. Biting her bottom lip she squirmed out of the younger Uchiha's way again. Her heart pounded a million miles a second. The pink haired kunoichi had been thrown off guard and hadn't expected him to come up behind her. Sakura was positive that he didn't know that she was there.

He kept attacking her with slice after slice. Most of his attacks she was able to dodge, she blocked some others, but then some peeled her skin away when she wasn't able to get away in time. Sasuke's brows were pinched deeply causing the sunken wrinkles to be prominent. Sasuke had been able to figure out where she was the moment he traced her chakra when she had been healing herself. It was impossible for any shinobi to hide their chakra when they were using it. Thus he had been able to quickly retrieve his sword and find Sakura. He took notice of her utter surprise when he had came up behind to attack her with his sword. Now he did whatever means to make sure she was not able to land a hit on him. Her fists were dangerous and deadly, and if he allowed her to get in a good hit he would be done for. "When did you get your sword?" she asked in disbelief.

"None of your concern." He simply expressed.

How his chakra was flaring right now was extremely dangerous. Chills were racing down her spine as she felt it fluctuate. A lot of his anger was playing into the darker aura of his chakra. She had felt this before but it had seemed in over the course of the months when she had be training with him, spending time with him, it died down a little. Now, however, it was going back to where it was. _This isn't good… _she thought to herself as she jumped up into a tree to perch herself on the highest branch she could. _I have to attack him at some point, but he keeps coming at me I just can't find and opening… _also he was wearing her down.

Sakura's breaths were heavy and she took this time to attempt to catch her breath. It wouldn't be too long before Sasuke jumped his way up here to attack her. Her eyes scanned the ground to search for him. He was not seen anywhere on the ground and immediately she felt her blood pressure raise as her heart started beating roughly again. Slyly she moved along the top of the tree branches, jumping from on to another as silently as she could. She moved as slowly as she could and then stopped as she began to think. _If I stay right here, he'll definitely find me. _Then she began figuring the means of a good attack if he were to attack from whichever way. It took a moment to figure it all out and in time as well. When the gears in her head stopped cranking with her scheming thoughts Sasuke charged from below. Sasuke's flare of his horrendous chakra given her clear enough warning of his presence. Sakura stood quickly to slam her heel into the branch. Sasuke was too close and going too fast to dodge the attack. The branch slammed on the top of his head. Bounding off the tree she hurdled fast towards Sasuke's falling body. Her fist was clenched tightly by her side, ready to deliver her final punch.

_That evil, conniving bitch,_ Sasuke thought bitterly to himself. Everything in his mind roared with irritation. He couldn't help but think that this whole time she had been plotting for this, every step she made while she was here was planned to the t. Each and every single aspect that appeared in his mind just made him even angrier. Sasuke just had been so consumed in thought he was blinded to the surroundings around him. He didn't see Sakura flying towards him. Taking notice of her too late he now couldn't react or dodge when she smashed her fist straight into his gut. The force had blown Sasuke straight to the ground in a matter of a few seconds. His back implanted beneath the earth and soon his whole body was completely still. His mind wandered back and forth in a state of conscious and unconscious. The last thing he remembered seeing was Sakura's form standing over him and her emotionless green eyes bore into his soul, searching for it . . .

Pain shot through Sasuke's body as he started to feel himself come to the conscious world. Every single part of him ached. It was even painful for him to begin to open his eyes. So instead of trying to force them open he kept them closed. Through his lids the sun was spilling into the room and could see the light. From that he was able to tell that he was no longer in Uchiha Madara's hideout, but he was elsewhere. He heard footsteps sliding across the wooden floor and a soft feminine hum. Sasuke imagined this as Sakura, she would have been the only one to take him away after the fight they had, that he remembered clearly, especially his humiliating loss. He began to wonder why he even lost in the first place. How could have Sakura beat him? Sasuke was supposed to be stronger than her; he was always stronger than her. Was his resolve not strong enough? Had it faded? Was this supposed to be his destiny? Sasuke just questioned himself and doubted his own path all over again, never very wonderful feelings. Slowly he felt his eyes beginning to flutter open. He grumbled lightly underneath his breath. Through blurred vision he was able to see the outline of Sakura's form.

It hadn't taken her very long to notice that Sasuke was awake. She heard him mumble and she was by his side in a matter of seconds. A very subtle look was on her face. Eyes just calm and mouth into a very soft frown. The more Sasuke opened his eyes the more he was able to make out the indifferent look she wore. "I see you awake," her voice even a tone to match her face.

"Where am I?" His voice was groggy, "The leaf village?" his stomach churned and he felt the pits burn in disgust.

"No, we're not in the leaf village. Do you think I'm that stupid?" she reached over Sasuke to grab for the bandage wrapped around his mid section.

Sasuke mumbled, "Wasn't that your almighty plan? To bring me back to the village?"

Sakura took note of the disdain in his voice. Gently she shook her head, "No exactly. That change after I found out the truth of what happened. I knew what you felt Sasuke, so I knew taking you back to the leaf village would only deepen the wounds."

Silence took over before Sakura sighed softly, "Besides, I'm not exactly happy about what has happened either." She spoke truthfully.

Though she knew who to take to blame instead of the entire village, she completely understood his feeling towards the village. "I eventually want to bring you back, but… it will take time. Whenever you're ready Sasuke. For now though, we'll just wander around with our own business while you gather yourself again."

Her voice barely audible, he took a moment to really get what she was saying. He got it though, Sasuke understood. Gently he tilted his head to the side to stare at the wall across from him.

* * *

**_Present Time_**

Naruto had released Sasuke from his prison. Sasuke could have the chance to escape because he was more than away of Madara's presence in the village. For a moment he did feel that intense temptation to run off to Madara. It was just his natural instinct but things were different now. He was now here in the village; everything was now water underneath the bridge. Sasuke decided to go check on Sakura, to see if she okay. Deep worry had grown in him when he felt the ancient Uchiha's presence near Sakura's house. She could very well take care of herself by now but really he was still very concerned over her. He ran through the darkest alley's staying low on the ground. Sasuke dared no travel by roof top, though it would be much faster. If someone were to spot him he would certainly cause problems. So he felt it was best that he kept hidden in the dark shadows that occasionally lit up by the lighting.

Not being able to travel by roof top, it took so much longer to reach Sakura's house. Upon his arrival he stood at the front door. He didn't feel Sakura's chakra but she could be hiding it. To make sure Sasuke entered Sakura's home. Water eased down from his hair and bangs to the floor beneath him as he stood by the door entrance. His clothes clung to his body. Sasuke felt very cold right now. Rain slid down the side of his face to ease down the strong line of his jaw. Tucking strands of hair away from his face he shook his hair to get some of the water out.

Her home was very dark, but what he was able to make out from the very few lit candles she wasn't down here. Soon he started to ease his way towards the stairs. A few times on his trip up he almost stumbled on her steps. However he was able to make it up the stairs in one piece. He turned to see her door wide open. Moon light and lighting lit the room. Something glittered on the floor and the pieces varied. It appeared to be glass on the floor. Gulping deeply Sasuke hurriedly trampled down the hallway to peer in her room. Sakura was nowhere in sight and her wooden was busted open. The mirror of her vanity completely busted and shattered. Her bed was a complete mess, blankets askew. Half of them hung on the bed and draped down to the floor. Even the pole on her bed had been torn off and the wood shattered on the floor. Blood had splattered on to her floor as well. "Sakura," he said as his brows furrowed lightly.

Since she wasn't here in the room or anywhere in her house he felt panic in the depths of his hear. His expression on the other hand said something else. No one would be able to guess that he was worried for Sakura. A lightly sweat did begin to build on the top of his forehead though. He rationally thought, if she were fighting Madara at this point he would be able to sense them. In her worry she must have rushed back to his holding cell. An impatience sigh escaped and rushed his way out through the broken window. Her blood was out here as well, so she must have had a tiff with Madara outside too.

Sasuke raced his way back to the holding cell. He swiftly went through all the alley ways, knowing what was in his way now. So he easily passed through the trash cans and news papers that were soaking wet and blocked his way. Sakura was probably in that building freaking out because he wasn't there. She was probably thinking the worst right now when in truth, that wasn't the case at all. He almost couldn't believe he was this worried and concerned over her. Normally he was indifferent to these things. Emotional bonds kept him close to Sakura making things different to him. The heavy clothes weighed him down, making him move much slower. "Sakura." He called out calmly as he reached the opened door.

Inside his voice echoed on the walls. The pink haired kunoichi had heard the call of his voice which she almost didn't hear. She was throwing such a fit of rage that it made all other sounds but her screaming and huffing unheard. Sakura paused as she stood there shaking and catching her breath. "Sakura." The voice was much softer.

The outline of Sasuke's form had Sakura's green eyes open quite wide. "S-Sasuke…?" she was breathless.

Sakura ran over and crashed herself into Sasuke. Her arms wrapped around him tight and it took a moment to respond but eventually he did wrap his arms around her body.


	8. Chapter 8:The Wold in Front of Us

**AN: Hello lovelies, I am glad I was able to update when I said I was going to update. I'm very thankful for the spring break cause it actually gave me some time to sit down and write. Part of it too was writers block. :( Anyways I'm glad I was able to update, I feel bad for not doing so. I'll be starting school again tomorrow so it might take a while to update. Good part is, May 4th is my last day of school so I'll have the entire summer to write and hopefully get some good chapters out, if not finish the story. I never mean this to be incredibly long in the first place. Until the next update, hope this holds you guys over~ I might preview for chapter 9 too if I have to. Also a quick note, as you can tell this story goes from present time, to the flash backs. The next few chapters will be in flash back mode going off from the flash towards the ending half of this chapter~ thanks.**

* * *

_Holding on to the woman that he cared so deeply for, Sasuke just pulled her in closer. It's been quite a long time since he has seen any sort of emotion other than anger coming from her. She feared, she was worried and was showing her concern through the expressions on her face. Sasuke himself was worried for a while that he had permanently damaged the pink haired kunoichi for his idiotic choices. Then he felt surprised himself. The fact he felt upset by his own actions towards her, said to him how much he has also changed as a person. It was hard to believe, even though he had come to the conclusion once before that he was an idiot. The realization now just felt different to him. Feeling her shake in his embrace, he pulled back a little bit to peer down towards her. Hesitantly he brought his fingers underneath her chin to lift it up. Sasuke saw the pure sadness in her eyes. They shook and watered slightly but . . . tears never fell from them. This made him look away._

_ Once more it felt like a ton of bricks fell right on top of him. Sakura could not cry. Not even for him._

The storm passed and so has all the trouble and doubt amongst team seven. Naruto was right to place his trust in the person who could not be trusted by others. Sakura was overall pleased that her efforts to tame Sasuke worked. Never did she doubt him but she wouldn't deny that when she saw that empty cell her heart had fallen into the pits of her stomach. It was the first time in a while that the truly did feel frightened, and disappointed to know that after all the time she hadn't changed him. For that briefest moment she thought _all that work I have done. All the possible love I have given him for nothing. _

Now here they were, walking down the brightly lit hallway with paintings decorating the red colored walls. Footsteps bounced off the white tiled floors as they passed by many the doors this single hallway had. Their destination was at the end of this hall. Naruto, the sixth hokage, was walking side by side with his past team seven teammates. Things felt so different compared to back then. Naruto couldn't help but be overwhelmed by that sensation.

Sakura was on the right and Sasuke stood on her left. "I can't believe you Naruto." Sakura whispered.

"What?" he said looking back at the pink haired kunoichi, obviously confused.

Sakura huffed, "How could you get yourself into trouble like this. Sometimes I think you haven't really changed at all."

"I still don't quite get what you mean." The blond insisted.

The woman brought her hands up to rub her temples. A very deep, and somewhat aggravated sigh came from her mouth. "Naruto, you're irresponsible. Do you know how much trouble you're going to be in? You weren't supposed to do that. You weren't supposed to let Sasuke out!"

"Did you not want him out?" Naruto quickly countered, "With what was happening with the situation, I did what I thought was best. I trusted Sasuke, I still trust him. Obviously my thoughts were well placed in him."

Sakura was a little frustrated. She was frustrated at Naruto because he dared asked her that did she not want Sasuke to be released. "Naruto, you know that more than anything I want him to be out, but I didn't want you to get in trouble for it. Just because we trust Sasuke, does not mean other people trust him. That's the cold hard truth, and you know it. Just because you're hokage doesn't mean you can get off scotch free."

Understanding Sakura's worries; he did know she was right. Yet he still stood firmly by his beliefs and the actions he has done. Naruto still hasn't changed one bit from the old days. He was as brash as ever, always jumping into everything without thinking of the consequences. "Don't worry Sakura, it will be okay."

"I figure it will be," she responded monotonously, "but that still doesn't change the fact we have to deal with this anyway. You dragged me along with it too." Because Sasuke was hers, because they were together and the only thing keeping them apart was the fact Sasuke was being held in prison.

The pink haired kunoichi finally turned her gaze in Sasuke's direction. He had been walking on the side the entire time in silence, listening as Sakura and Naruto argued about this. The man was just a little uncomfortable because of how they argued back and forth. Sakura was able to see that in his stare, how his eyes just wandered everywhere. She went to subtly grab for his hand and intertwined their fingers together. Sasuke, who stood a good few feet taller than her, peered down towards her. Sakura kept her eyes up towards him. There were no smiles of comfort. The only thing she could offer him was a small squeeze of her hand. That was the comfort she could provide, unlike the Sakura he knew of long ago who would have smiled at him and said it was going to be okay.

Reaching the end of the hallway, there stood the large red door. Naruto sighed heavily, as Sakura's eyes laid straight ahead. Both of them seemed ready to prepare for the screaming and yelling. Sasuke, well, this was just going to prove to be even more uncomfortable and possible even a little angering. Naruto had stepped forward and opened the door. With a very loud squeak, the people sitting in the room all turned their heads to see their visitors.

A good thirty minutes have rolled by. There was only strong silence and whispering amongst the council members. Their eyes would give side way glances. There was quite the distance between them with the circular table they all sat at. At each seat there were glasses of water. Naruto would pick the glass up and take very tiny sips. Sakura sat between Sasuke and Naruto. She calmly stared at the glass of water and watched as water droplets slide down the glass slowly. The tension in the room was enough for most people to just want to get of there as quickly as they could. What called for this silence? Why was no one talking? The woman would lightly tap her foot onto the bare, concrete ground. Occasionally her eyes scanned the room, passing by the dark colored walls, and wandering as far up to the tile ceiling. Since the lights were quite blinding, Sakura lost her vision some making her squint her eyes a bit.

Sasuke felt extremely uncomfortable in such a situation. Whenever they would turn to give them those side glances, their eyes always fell solely on him. When they did, he felt their scrutiny towards him. The Uchiha couldn't help but still feel an animosity towards them. Even after all these years, these people were still alive? Shouldn't they already be in their graves? Sasuke would bitterly think this as he would send the glares right back towards them. He would then glance towards Sakura. She was sitting beside him, looking so calm. There wasn't an ounce of nervousness in her expression. Yet Sasuke felt she was probably worried on the inside. They had no idea what was going to become of today after this was over. What was going to be his fate? Would Naruto be punished for his rash decision?

Finally, one of the older men with wrinkles dropping his face downward cleared his throat out. His beady eyes peered directly towards Naruto, "We have decided that we'll be giving the 6th hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, a chance to speak for his insensate decision."

Naruto, who was leaning back lazily in his chair bored out of his mind waiting for them. When finally be addressed he quickly snapped to attention. It took a moment to process what they said, but it did finally go through that thick skull.

His blue optic spread wide in his surprise towards their decision. The hokage then stood up and furrowed his brows. "My decision was not . . ." he paused because he did not understand the word that was used to describe his thoughts. "Uh . . ." he looked around the room like he would be able to find the answer he was looking for painted on the table top, or possibly the walls.

Sasuke scoffed, "They called your decision stupid, idiot."

The blonde has never been the brightest crayon in the box. With his high status of power now, and being much older now too, not knowing these things was far more embarrassing to him than when he was younger. Naruto just turned his head back and went straight to the point, "We have a situation where we're not fully aware of what was going on yet. Sakura was in danger, and something horrible could have happened. I trust Sasuke, he has changed a lot over the years. I know he wouldn't turn his back on us again."

The older woman sitting next to the man gazed critically at Naruto, "I'm sure you would have said the exact same thing about him years before, when he did exactly what you would have never imagined him to do."

"Everyone has their moment of weakness." Naruto countered.

The older man coughed, "And everyone has their choices. In your moments of weakness you never would have made that decision, would you?"

"No, but I came close to making decisions to let all that hate and anger build up inside of me where I might have walked a similar path-"

"But you didn't," the old man did not let Naruto finish his sentence.

The hokage scowled, "Before you interrupted me, I was going to say that everyone is different and not everyone can chose the better choice. Sasuke left because he thought he had one direct path. Things happened that corrupted his original path even more, by finding the truth out."

The old woman started to raise her voice then. "Sasuke still left the village! He still betrayed Konoha! Sasuke Uchiha should not even have freedom! He is lucky enough that he does not have life in prison! For his acts of treason, he does not deserve the light punishment he has."

It was difficult for Sakura right now. She was sitting here, listening to these ancient idiots speak their bigoted shit. There was a very deep anger boiling inside of her. The older version of her probably would have already blown her fuse by now. However, Sakura was able to keep quite calm and collected. A very dangerous look glimmered in her eyes as her hands clutched tightly. "All of you are the most close minded, misunderstanding assholes I have ever had the chance to talk to."

Sasuke nervously glanced towards the pink haired kunoichi. The woman got up and gracefully walked towards them. The elder man, who sneered at her at first, quickly wiped that look away from his face. The next thing you knew, Sakura had roughly grabbed for his collar and she pulled him close to her face. Afraid that Sakura might go off the deep end, Sasuke quickly got up and pulled her back by the arms. Naruto had rushed to do the same as well. This left her green eyes boring into them. Such anger filled them, and continued to rage inside of her. "The next time you spout that inconsiderate crap in front of my face, and his, I'll make sure it won't be coming from your mouth anymore! Sasuke is not the boy he used to be. Quite frankly, with your attitude and ideals I don't fucken blame him for it either!" even if his anger had been misplaced and put on everyone in the village.

Dragging Sakura further back towards the door, the Uchiha peered towards the hokage. Naruto just nodded his head slightly, "Go ahead and go. I'll come back to you later with the news." He said.

The elder didn't object to that. They didn't need Sakura to go off on them. It could get her into trouble as well. The door closed behind the pair and Sasuke peered towards her. He wasn't exactly sure what he should be feeling right now, but thankful was the only word he could think of. "Thank you Sakura." He said softly.

The moment they stepped outside he was able to let go of Sakura. Placing her arms back down her side, but reaching for his hand she peered up. "For what?" she responded softly.

"For defending me back there." Now he really wasn't the one to express his own feelings about that very well but if he didn't show his appreciation then he'd feel like a jackass. "I had almost remembered why and wanted nothing more than do what I had wanted to do from the beginning. It's you, and Naruto that make me remember that it wasn't the entire villages fault. Just theirs."

Sakura felt better and even more reassured now that Sasuke would not betray them. He understood where the problem lied but no longer was he so consumed by his hatred that he was blind to everything. Sasuke did not act upon his feelings like that anymore. Which really showed how much he had changed, and his feelings for her too, and it was just a little hard to imagine. "So as your first official day out as a free man, what would you like to do?" Sakura offered.

"I just . . ." Sasuke paused, "Want to go back to your home and relax."

Sakura peered towards him with a very gentle gaze. Her expression may not have changed too much but Sasuke could tell that she wanted to smile. "Alright, that sounds like a good idea to me." She replied.

Both of them wandered off to her home, to just go rest and relax.

**Flash back: a few days after Sasuke's defeat**

The weather was average out. It wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too cold. The day was mildly peaceful, and the wind was blowing gently. It had been a few days after the defeat of Sasuke. The Uchiha was still wounded. Not as much physically as it was mentally. Sakura had challenged his thoughts and his beliefs. Also, his ego was greatly bruised by the fact he underestimated her so. Sasuke still had the thoughts of his teammate as someone who was weak. She was someone who needed to be to be rescued all the time, the one who was always falling behind him and Naruto.

He sat there outside on the porch of the abandoned cottage, staring down to the wrap around his middle. That final blow she had given him still hurt his organs. Sakura hadn't healed him completely, and she was right to do so. He might have fled if he was well enough to go. The slightest movement caused discomfort for him. Not to mention his head still pounded because of the branch that hit his head. At least out here it was quiet, where it would not further his pain. It was really enough time for him to think, as he could sit there still.

Sasuke found himself thinking back to his fight with Sakura. The image of her face burned into his head before she gave him that last punch. He couldn't help but remember how un-phased she seemed hurting him. The Sakura before, the one who deeply cared for him, could not do it. The time they met before, after his cruel attack on his ex teammate, when she tried to kill him by stabbing a kunai in his back did not work. She stopped, she hesitated. Her body had been shaking, and her head had been bowed. Her love for him had stopped her from killing him like a fool. Now though, it was different. That once warm green eyed gaze was now that of a killer or at least someone who does not have the same affection for him anymore. "Why am I so wrapped up about this?" he muttered to himself.

Why did he care? No, he didn't care. "Having affections for someone is useless." He once more stated to himself.

That thought quickly fled from him. Once more he was haunted by the stare that came from Sakura's eyes. He grit his teeth, "What a stupid girl."

Really, he was just upset because he was even beginning to think about these things again. Before he left Orochimaru, he still thought about Naruto and Sakura a lot. He remembered the good times with them and a part of him deep down did miss them. He knew thoughts like those were not going to let him defeat his brother at the time. After defeating his brother was his descent down darkness. The revenge he wanted on the entire leaf village made him despise Naruto and Sakura. They were never his friends, they were laughing at him. Now, it was changing again because Sakura had appeared in his life once again. He just growled softly to himself, spitting off to the side. Thinking once more what a stupid girl she was.

The sound of the door opening had him just sigh. Sakura walked up beside him with a bowl in her hand. He peered up towards her as she stood there. "I have something that will subside _some _of the pain."

Reaching out he took the bowl from her hands and he looked down to it. "Why don't you just heal me completely already?"

Without twitching a muscle, he could tell that was a stupid question to ask her. He felt it had been worth a shot though, thinking maybe he would catch the kindness in her heart, or something like that at least. His onyx eyes went and peered down towards the bowl. He stirred the spoon around in the slop that was this medication. He thought it was strange that an abandoned cottage would have spoons and bowls. Sakura was considered a rogue by now, so she wouldn't risk going into a town would she? "Where did you get the silverware and bowls and such?" he asked.

Sakura sat down beside him then, "While you were knocked out I was able to sneak into a village. I can't say I'm proud of stealing them but I did what I had to do."

The pink haired kunoichi stared towards him. She was noticing he seemed deep in thought today. Also, noticed he did not glance to her that much. She figured at this point that Sasuke's ego was bruised. Sasuke silently ate the medication she had given him. She went to reach over as she started feeling around on his head. Crossing a lump on his head was when he cringed and slapped her hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just seeing how bad that tree branch got you on the head."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed just a bit more as he looked away. Sakura certainly noticed the sour look in his eyes. "You know, I might have apologized to you for beating you up the way I did." She gave him this incredulous look, "but you deserved it for underestimating me for the last time. I'm not going to be that damsel in distress anymore. So you can stop your pouting about it. Also, while I'm at it, don't think about just picking up and leaving. You won't get away that easily."

"Why go through all that trouble in the first place?" Sasuke inquired, still quite bitter. Even more so that Sakura went and scolded him!

"Because you're an idiot." She retorted, "And do you know why I am calling you an idiot?"

Sasuke didn't bother answering. So, there was just a slight pause before she continued, "Because you made stupid decisions. You made decisions that go against what your brother had willed you. He lied to you for a reason, and you brushed it off like it was nothing. You're brother was a noble man, and you put his last wish for you in disgrace. I thought you loved your brother. You loved him so much; you hated him for what he did. I guess I was wrong though. I've always been wrong about you."

Still silent, he finished off the medicine. "You don't understand." He went on to say.

She pinched her brows together, having the wrinkled gather around at the middle. "What could possibly be your reason for me not understanding? Huh? It just seems that you don't understand."

Sakura was eerily calm as she spoke to him. It almost sounded like her scolding was mean to be taken in a yelling tone, but it wasn't happening. "You don't understand because you never lost anyone you loved because of some stupid village, trying to oppress your family. Belittling them, and mocking them. The Uchiha name was nothing but a god damn mockery to the village. They stuck us into some fucken corner, giving the Uchiha a "police" force to make them feel "important." When in reality it was just a ploy to keep us in check! To think I wanted to join such a force. It was nothing but a lie. The peace and kindness from Konoha is nothing but a god damn lie!"

After his little rant, there was a bit of silence between them. "That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard." She said, breaking the silence. "It always has to be about you, doesn't it? You can never think of anyone but yourself. You really can't seem to comprehend the fact that one, you're brother sacrificed everything for you. Two, that your problems trump everyone else's because you lost people, and then you left people." There was a bit of a sneer in that last part of her sentence.

Sasuke had given her this look of disbelief that she was invalidating the pain and agony he went through. "Before you even go off, listen to this. Itachi was torn at the fact what he had to do, obviously because he left you alive, and he lied to you for a good reason. He wanted to make you look like a hero. He didn't want you to know the shame the clan was going to bring upon the village, his home, and so made him look like the only bad guy. Are you invaliding Itachi's pain then? Because of your own selfish reasons?"

There was another silence, and as he was about to open his mouth she continued. "Don't you dare try to defend yourself. You know I am right. Itachi was a true shinobi. His devotion was to the leaf village. You are not a true shinobi. And you also know what? How could you even dare say that all the people you cared for, left you? You left a whole bunch of people who did. How incredibly stupid, and selfish is that?"

Sakura then got up from sitting beside him, roughly taking the bowl from his hands and marching her way straight into the cottage once more. Before she walked in, she left with this. "I may not have been happy with the way the leaf village dealt with this, but you cannot fault everyone there. There are many people who were like you, and clueless to it all. How could they be at fault? In the end, the hokage himself was able to grant Itachi's wish. You were made to look like the hero. How could you hate the third for that…? You place your blame wrong." the sound of the door creaked as it shut behind her.

Sasuke was left sitting there alone, once more. His head hung in deep shame as her words sank into his mind. They buzzed around viciously. Sasuke's lips pulled back, baring his teeth as he growled underneath his breath. There was a fold in between his brows where they pinched. Clenching his fists made his entire arm tense. The veins popping up onto his flesh. The medicine Sakura had given him had worked but with everything that was racking through his mind made the pain in his head come back.

The first thing that bugged him the most was the fact that Sakura told him off. He hated thinking about her past self, and how she would not have been able to say such things to him. Sakura would have been afraid to offend him. She would have felt like that was not being there, being supportive of him. That's what hit him like a ton of bricks. Sasuke really, really hated to admit this. The more each minute passed by the more he came to realization. The fact was, she was right. He was a selfish douche bag. Everything always had been about him, him, and him. He left the people who cared for him behind.

Opening up the palm of his clenched fist, he found himself staring to it. There was something about himself now that felt free suddenly. A weight had been lifted off of his shoulder. The sensation was weird, and he didn't think such a thing could happen so fast.

It was possible that after Sakura's arrival, that he wasn't so lost in the darkness anymore. Thinking of those past six months and how her change has affected him and now what just happened clicked completely together now. However, Sasuke prided himself too much to go in there and admit that he was completely wrong this entire time.

However, even if he was wrong this entire time… there was still that bitterness inside of him. If Sasuke were to walk back into that village, he would not be a happy. Even if one knows they're wrong in their actions, if certain feelings have been harbored inside of them for so long. Just as Sakura tossing away her feelings for so long, has affected her as well. It wouldn't be easy to restore herself to the girl she had once been.

How times have changed. How they have affected each person from team seven themselves, and he wasn't sure about Naruto. These years have been cruel to them, and their bonds. There has been constant test of faiths, and plenty of hurt emotions from all three of them. How bad were things going to be now when Sakura and Sasuke would eventually return to the village. It might be another year, or more before their return. After all, it may not have been quite the worded promise but Sakura would not take Sasuke back until time was ready.

Sasuke picked himself up from the porch and hobbled his way inside. His gut still hurt just a bit, making slightly uncomfortable for him to walk. Inside the cottage, his onyx gaze peered towards the window one last time. It was time for a fresh new start on life.


	9. Chapter 9: Thoughts

**AN: I'm terribly sorry this took so long, and I'm terribly sorry this chapter might be incredibly boring. I haven't been feeling very well motivated as of late, so hopefully for chapter 10 I get some inspiration? Leave reviews, that actually might help me get motivated because I really enjoy feedback. Oh and for those who keep up with the manga, yes, I know it's not "madara" anymore but I already have something worked out. So yeah.**

It had been another few days that passed on by. The weather had been the perfect temperature. There was no blazing hot sun beating down into the house with no air conditioning, but it wasn't exactly cold to the point you might have needed a long sleeve. The breeze flowing through the air was a warm one as the sun was getting ready to touch the tip of the mountains. There was a certain orange glow that happened as the sun got into position. At the right time the entire area became completely saturated in orange.

Sasuke enjoyed when the sun was getting ready to set. It was a time of peace and relaxation. This was the time he spent in his thinking mode. He often reflected on things of the past. Things that motivated him to complete his goal, brooding on the horrible decision his brother has made because of the village. Now, however, he has often been reflecting on other things from the past. Words his brother had said, what Sakura had scolded him for . . . and if he could possibly truly change? Sasuke understood now that everything he has done since he has killed his brother has been completely selfish. Yet there was that tick in there that could not forgive the village, that everything and everyone that came from Konoha was pure evil.

This was the working of Madara's fine tuning of manipulation. Sasuke could be easily manipulated in the right hands. Or Sasuke could play the part of being manipulated. He had given Orochimaru that pleasure and look where he was now. Madara on the other hand, well, let's just say that Sasuke had been played the fool. He thought he was doing something great and avenging his brother but the entire time he was probably just disappointing him. Sasuke put his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes.

A deep sigh escaped from his lips as he further buried his face into his hands. The Uchiha could feel a headache coming on. That could have either been from all the thinking he has done, or just the after affects of Sakura landing a hit on his head. He wouldn't have been surprised if there was some bleeding in his brain.

The door made a creaking sound as it opened. Sasuke turned his head over slightly to see the young woman out of the corner of his eye. She held a medium sized bowl in her delicate appearing hands. Upon closer look you could see they were the hands of a shinobi. "It's time to take your medicine." She said softly.

He peered towards her with a nonchalant look, and then he just looked over to the side and he peered back out towards the vast openness. Sasuke had felt Sakura's stare and did peek from the corner of his eyes. She held the bowl out. "You are okay to take it yourself, aren't you?"

Sasuke had roughly taken the bowl from her hands, "Yeah" he muttered.

Even though Sakura was close to positive now she has gotten through to him, his attitude seemed to remain the same. He did keep eye contact with her longer, which she tried to see as a positive. However it was hard to see much of anything through a bright light anymore, she knew she wasn't the same anymore. . .

"Come in when you're done with it. It's getting dark and I need to turn the lantern out soon."

The Uchiha had acknowledged her with a light grunt before she walked inside.

* * *

It was way late into the night. Sasuke was sleeping in the room, and Sakura right now was on the couch. She tossed and turned but could not find a very comfortable way to go to sleep. It was near impossible. The young woman had let out an extremely frustrated sigh. Her green eyes peered towards the ceiling and she felt tension in the center where her brows pinched together. "Why can't I sleep?" she mumbled.

Anger and frustration being the only true things that she could readily express, she felt more pent up then usual whenever she got into this state. Sakura pushed herself from the couch to go sit outside. She figured if just maybe if she got up for a few minutes, and then went to go lie down, that it'd be easier for her to fall asleep.

When Sakura had opened the door, she was greeted by the cool breeze brushing against her skin. Goose bumps formed on her flesh for a moment, only to go away once her body adjusted to the outside temperature. Sakura sighed softly and her head leaned forward a bit as she was thinking rather softly to herself. Mostly, she was thinking of why she could not fall asleep. If she doesn't fall asleep soon, then she'd probably sleep until the afternoon later. "Thinking about it isn't going to help me relax any." She muttered.

The door creaked open, turning her head slightly she saw Sasuke step onto the front porch. He gave a yawn and looked towards her. "Did I wake you?" she inquired.

"Just a bit." He said lightly.

Sasuke stood beside her, and didn't bother sitting down. "Sorry." She replied, "I didn't think I was being that loud."

"It really wasn't you as it was the door." He responded.

That made sense. The door was pretty loud. Both Sasuke and Sakura were silent for a few moments. The Uchiha was still standing and looking out to the scenery before them. It was difficult to make anything out in this darkness. There was just the rustling of leaves that was rather calming for the both of them. Eventually, Sasuke sat down beside Sakura. "Sasuke?" she questioned lightly.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" he said.

Was Sasuke making small talk? Yes he was. Maybe not something that was normal for Sasuke, but something told him Sakura might have been a little uncomfortable when he sat down next to her. "Yeah, it is." She responded.

After her response, the Uchiha was silent. Even if he attempted to make small talk, does not mean he was any good at it. He sat there trying to think of something to talk about just to pass the time. That way maybe eventually she could go to sleep, and he could go back to sleep. The kunoichi spoke up, "How are you feeling over all? Is the medicine I'm giving you, working?"

"Yes, it's working." Sasuke's eyes peered over to catch the glimmering low light of the lantern in Sakura's eyes.

With his gaze caught into hers, he took notice how her eyes fell slightly as she spoke back to him, "That's good, how about your head and stomach. Do they still hurt you a lot?"

"The pain is dull in both areas. However it's not as bad as the first day."

Sakura nodded her head, "That's good then, you don't think you could still fight, could you?"

The Uchiha shook his head no. He was not well enough to go back into battle. He got dizzy frequently as he did get nauseous quickly. The combination wasn't good, so it was just best he rested for a while. "Maybe you should go back in and rest then." Sakura's hand came to rest on the top of his shoulder.

"Possibly." he felt the warmth of her hand spread across his shoulder.

Funny how their conversation went from Sasuke trying to small talk, to Sakura just asking him about how he was feeling from his injuries he got. The conversation lacked in words and it was only inquiries and simple responses. It seemed the both of them were horrible at keeping conversation. Though, Sakura used to be a lot better about it. Breathing out softly, Sasuke pushed himself to standing position. Sakura's green eyes fell onto him and watched as he tried balancing himself. "Do you need help?"

"No, I got it." The Uchiha shook his head in response.

With each step he took, the kunoichi watched carefully to make sure his walk wasn't hindered enough where he'd fall back. Sasuke had seemed to make it to the door okay. The door made its horrendous sound when Sasuke opened it up half way. Half of his body inside, his hand held onto the door as he called out Sakura's name softly, "Sakura."

She peered up towards him then. Their eyes locked onto each other and there was a silence. "Yes?" she said arching her brow curiously.

Sasuke's eyes fell down onto the floor, as he stood still. His mouth slightly open but no words came out. Sakura was patient waiting to hear what he had to say. After a few moments, he finally spoke, "Make sure you get some rest too."

She simple nodded her head, "I will."

Once Sasuke disappeared behind the door, the young woman placed her hand on top of her chest. She was left with the fleeting words of Sasuke. They expressed concern for her, but it was hard to comprehend the emotion she should be feeling. The most she could think to herself was that she was grateful to Sasuke. She could see the attitude change in him. But, there was not quite that emotional connection to him.

Sakura had wished there was something easier for her to grasp rather than anger at this point. She just stared sadly towards the trees and bushes that could hardly be made out. A deep sigh came out as she made her way onto her feet. Sakura straightened her pajamas out a bit. She took a deep breath before turning to go inside. Her movements were careful when she attempted to open the door. Sakura did not want it to make its sound. Though Sasuke probably wasn't asleep yet, she just rather not disturb him anyways.

Something suddenly made a rustling sound. It was too much to be a small animal. Sakura felt a cold sweat form on the back of her neck as she peered around. She waited. Her eyes trying to scan the area the best she could. The thought of taking the lantern and searching the area crossed her mind, but it might not be the smartest idea. If someone was out there, they'd catch her off guard with the darkness. So she listened, and waited. Maybe it was an animal. She didn't hear it again.

After a few minutes of nothing, she reached to take the lantern and brought it inside with her. If she had troubling sleeping earlier, it might be even worse now because someone may have been out there.

It was around evening and Sakura was outside, gathering sticks and branches she found lying around on the ground. Sakura was going to make a fire to get them something to eat. Also, the fire would light up the place well enough they could see further around the area. The young woman held a whole bunch within her grasp, and she was making her way back towards the front of the small tiny house.

* * *

Right now, she felt absolutely tired. Last night she wasn't really able to fall asleep. At all. Her eyes closed, but she tossed and turned in a state of consciousness. So it truly was a very unsettling rest. She had been constantly thinking about what she had heard outside and a million other things. When the kunoichi woke up the first thing she did was scout the area out. She didn't find any human footsteps, or any animal tracks, so she figured she was only hearing things last night.

She made her way back towards the house. It wasn't very far so she was there pretty quickly. Sasuke was sitting on the front porch with his legs crossed. He seemed to be staring vacantly towards everything in front of him. She wanted to smile when she saw him but she didn't. "Ah, hey there." she spoke lightly.

"Fire?" he asked.

"Yes, it's getting late, and I caught some fish earlier so we have something to eat for tonight."

Sasuke could let an extremely soft smile of appreciation spread across his face. It wasn't too noticeable. "So…" he paused for a moment as his head just kind of leaned over to the side. "You've been pretty busy today haven't you?"

There were pauses in his words, which Sakura took notice. He must have been uncomfortable trying to just talk casually to her. The kunoichi just shook her head lightly and set down all the sticks. "Yeah, I couldn't fall asleep last night, so I'm pretty tired. I at least hope you got some sleep."

She began to arrange the sticks and branches in a neat pile. Her stomach growled lightly, and was pretty hungry. "I was able to fall asleep." He responded simply.

Again, she wanted to smile but her mind refused to let her lips stretch even just slightly. "I'm glad you were able to get some sleep then."

"But. . ." his words were cut off as he realized the next thing he was going to say.

Sakura was curiously peering towards him because he had ended his sentence so abruptly. She questioned him lightly, "but what?"

The way Sasuke's throat moved said to her that he had swallowed a lump in his throat. Which only caused a look of confusion on her face, "you didn't get any sleep yourself." He finally said.

A cold sweat had formed onto the back of her neck and the blank expression on her face might have been a hint to Sasuke that she was surprised by him saying this. "Only because I'm not well yet and if we get attacked you won't be up to full strength."

Sakura definitely liked that reasoning, because honestly without it she wouldn't know how to feel at all. She was completely clueless on how to take his words. Even if he had appeared to be the type of person who lacked any emotion at all, he knew how to feel it. He didn't completely banish it away like she did… he merely let his anger take control of him. "Yeah, that's true." She responded as she added the last stick on top.

"Anyways, start the fire? Then we'll be able to eat soon." She said.

Without a word, Sasuke had done what Sakura had requested. They walked past each other. The pink haired kunoichi had to go inside to fetch the fish she had already gutted and sliced to cook. She was definitely no master chef, but you didn't need to be one when you're out just trying to survive as rogue shinobi.

She stepped into the clean kitchen and approached the sink. Her fingers wrapped around the plate. The texture was rather smooth and cold. Sakura shook lightly for a reason she hardly knew herself right now. Her eyes darted towards the small window above the sink. Sasuke had finished lighting the fire. The sun was already taking its place behind the horizon and she knew it was a good idea to light the fire. This way they light around the area did appear to be broader. She continued to watch Sasuke even as he walked back to sit down on the porch. Her heart was racing. "I mean… I know I still have feelings for him…" she uttered underneath her breath.

The next few moments she spent sorting through her mind. It was difficult to make sense of it all. Even as changed as she was at this point in her life, she could never deny who she was. Just as Sasuke could never deny who he was on the inside, before all this happened. "I did get him because I have feelings for him. I wouldn't have done it if… there wasn't anything left in here. I wouldn't have come so far with him."

Now, it just felt wrong to her because what she felt inside deep down could not be shown on the surface. The feeling really just irked her because it didn't feel right. Sakura felt like she was lying to herself to want to feel something but not being able to physically express it. Her face could only twist with anger. Rage could only fill her heart and actually know her stomach wasn't sinking into the pits of her stomach. Maybe this was the part where she envied someone like Sai. He didn't grow up with emotions at all, so he didn't know how to truly feel them just as he could not express them.

Once more Sakura let out another sigh. Of course it was one in frustration. She gripped the plate just a little bit tighter before she walked herself right back out through the door to have this filleted fish put on the fire.

Fish bones were left on the ground as there was nothing left of their meal. Sakura had collected the things as she yawned. She was extremely tired and it could be a good as long as her sleep wasn't interrupted. The entire time they had been eating, Sakura didn't really sense or hear anyone nearby. She used this to convince herself that yesterday was nothing and she shouldn't let this get under her skin. Her sleep would be further deprived if she did. "You should go lay down." Sasuke suggested.

Sakura had turned her head to peer over towards him and nodded her head, "Yeah. I was actually planning on going inside to get some rest. I'm really tired."

The young woman slowly approached the deck where Sasuke sat on the edge, "what are you going to do?"

"I'll just stay awake for a while." He responded.

Sakura looked around again and she felt that worry deep inside that just made her skin want to jump. It really wasn't a good feeling at all. "Just… go to sleep." He told her.

There were no other words he would feel comfortable saying with, to her. Sasuke had never been good at that consoling thing. Sakura knew this and so she just nodded her head once more before stepping up onto the porch. "Thanks." She said as her eyes were staring at him.

The Uchiha was looking up to her and he nodded his head slightly. There wasn't anything else he could actually express. He just thought it'd be best for her to go get some sleep. The sound of the door shutting made him sigh to himself as he closed his eyes. Hopefully Sakura would be able to get some. He didn't want to think what could happen to them because he was in no shape to fight. The damage done to him was extensive and any fighting could cause him a great deal of pain.

It could go away if Sakura had just healed him without using medicine and actually used her medical ninjutsu on him. Not like she was stupid though. She had a perfectly good explanation as to why she wouldn't do it. Sasuke could flee. He could turn on her and fight her back. The question was however, would he? If he was all healed, what would he do? Nothing had bounded him to Sakura, he made her no promises that he would stay. But, what would he do now even if he just disappeared away from Sakura?

Sasuke didn't want to return back to anyone though. He knew he had gotten power hungry. Greedy to get stronger, and let those people manipulate him. So, that's what his question was, what would he do anyways? Was it just better for him to stick with Sakura or was he still convinced that maybe his path was taking him elsewhere?

The Uchiha stroked his fingers through the strands of his black hair. They all fell back into place before he got up to go walk around the small house just for a little bit

It had been about thirty minutes later since Sakura had laid herself down to go to sleep. He could only hope she had actually fallen asleep. Sasuke had already been sitting himself back on the porch, keeping his eye on the fire. He had seemed lost in thought just watching the flames dance. The fire crackled and crickets were sounding off. Despite the noises he heard, they were quite enough where he felt completely in his silence. He enjoyed it; it gave him more time to think everything over. Sasuke always seemed to be doing that anyways.

He reached his arm over his head in a long stretch. The Uchiha cracked his neck to release all the tension. Sasuke had done the same to loosen his back up. Sitting down and doing nothing can really cramp up the muscles.

"Show yourself, there's no reason in hiding." Sasuke had felt the presence around 10 minutes after Sakura went inside. He hadn't wanted to call him out so early because that would risk of her waking up. Biding time was his strategy because at least some rest was better than no rest at all. He had wanted to wait longer before getting this guy but there had been a drop in his stomach saying that there was no chance to wait longer. The sound of a surprise attack would have been loud. _I'm just going to have to try my best to stop his attacks from hitting. That's all I can do, I can't seriously fight whoever this is. _

But he might have a better chance of grabbing Sakura and fleeing with her instead . . . either way he felt he was at a great disadvantage.


	10. Chapter 10: Scarlet

**AN: Hello there! I'm happy to be updating you again. Er, I'm sorry it took so long, I've been busy with school and now I'm on break, and hopefully I can crank out another chapter before I start again in another 2 weeks cause I'll probably be busy again. Anywho, I probably will be ending this fanfiction within the next 5 chapters. That's the goal~ I didn't plan for this to be a long story to begin with. The next chapter will most likely contain mature scenes, and depending how I plan the chapter out, well... the full amount of it can be scene on my "archive of my own" account. I'd rather not risk the chance losing this story on here from some smut~ aha. If that's the case, I'll have the link on here, or I'll have it on my profile ready to go. Thanks for being patient with me guys.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes, I just wanted to get this out to you. I'll fix them as I catch them.**

* * *

The enemy was surrounding the area. It seemed like there was quite a few of them but from what Sasuke could pin point, there was about three actual people and the rest had to be clones. Now he had to calculate how they were going to attack. He had to go through all possible strategies and find a way to counter them.

Sasuke was actually having the time to think through all of this. This concerned him because that was leaving a few gaps in his thoughts. The enemy could be thinking of their possibilities to counter the ones the Uchiha was thinking of. All the paranoia came flooding through his thoughts as well. It certainly didn't help that he was injured and could not fight in tip top shape. He calmly said, "I know you're there. It's pointless trying to hide. You also know that I know you're there."

There wasn't exactly answer or any sort of reply that was coming from them. That made Sasuke even more nervous. It was still too dark for him to be able to pin point exactly where they were. A cold sweat was coming down from the top of his face. Licking his lips lightly, his heart was just beating out of the tension that was filling the air. Finally, a kunai was sent flying out from the area. The Uchiha jumped back and he peered up towards the darkness. "Really, is that going to be your first move?"

What in the world was he thinking? That's the problem, he wasn't exactly thinking. Sasuke was the type of person who just mocked his opponent because he felt he was superior to everyone else. Something he should learn by now is to not be so arrogant about his abilities. That's how Sakura got the upper hand on him. He hadn't seen her getting that brutal with him. Now, this could cost him his life. Sasuke was of course at a serious disadvantage here. "I guess he's just really impatient." A voice crept into the air, sending chills down Sasuke's spine.

The bushes started rustling as the enemy began to move. They were still within the shadows. Three jumped out from the bush as they lashed out with their water attacks. Sasuke ducked down and pounced forward. His hand lightly skimming the ground as he let his chakra hold his body up. The three that had attacked were going to fly into the front of the house. Sasuke did not want Sakura to wake just yet so he twisted his body around to blow his fireball towards them. All three of them singed up, the jutsu releasing. Those ones were clones. Sasuke let out a heavy sigh.

Another wave of three soared out from the shadows, this time not all at the same time. It was one after another. Sasuke caught one of the men from his shoulders, whirled him around and sent him into the other two. The sound of the jutsu breaking ran through his ears. Sasuke felt a twinge of pain spread through his body. It was a sickening jolt that made him heave over for a moment. By the time he could bring himself to move, one of the enemy was already about to land another attack on him. The Uchiha had to quickly get himself out from the situation by doing a replacement jutsu. He appeared several feet back. Already his breathing was appearing slightly hitched.

Eventually Sasuke was able to go through several rounds of three clones attacking him. His energy quite expended at this point. The pain became extremely hard to ignore. Especially the pounding inside of his head, and they still only kept coming. "Getting tired?" one voice came out.

"It looks like he is." Another one said.

"I think it's time maybe we stop playing around. The faster we get these him, the faster we can get the reward. I don't know why the leaf hasn't sent any of their own out to get rid of this one. Sasuke is only missing shinobi." The third voice mused out loud.

The first one that had spoke up mused on, "They're weak. Do you really think that they are going to want to get rid of their own? Well, maybe besides for this guy. The other one that's with left out of good intentions, but how could one have good intentions with hanging around this bastard?"

Their bantering back and forth was giving Sasuke a headache. He didn't quite understand what they were babbling about. However, he decided that maybe it was best to let them continue on like that. This gave him a chance to sit there and catch his breath. _It's just as I figured, they're here because we're missing shinobi. However, they aren't leaf shinobi. That's obvious. I haven't been able to catch a glimpse of their head bands. I'm almost guaranteed these are mist shinobi. However, I think they're mostly after me, rather than Sakura. _He thought to himself.

Suddenly he had let out a loud cry, a searing pain burst through his shoulder. By instinct his hand went to grasp for it. Blood was seeping down from his shoulder. Sasuke winced in pain as he saw the kunai deep within his back. _When did they…?_ He thought.

Sasuke's onyx eyes darted around the area. The fire had a good radius of light. But it was still very easy to hide, and attack from the shadows. This just made him feel that he was in deeper shit than he originally had thought. His shoulder was bleeding but he couldn't locate the enemy at all. Sasuke gulped deeply as his hands clutched onto his shoulder a bit tighter. Of course while this helped him ease the pain some, some of the blood was just being squeezed out. Sasuke considered taking the kunai out now but that would only make the bleeding worse.

The Uchiha didn't want to do this, knowing his energy will only be exerted more. Sasuke's eyes blipped from their dark color, to the deep red. He had done it just in time. Another kunai had seemingly suddenly appeared only mere inches from him. Sasuke eased over to the side, dodging the blade that was about to plunge into him. A very thin sweat appeared on the top of his forehead. It was cold and icky.

The opposing side had seemed to notice the Uchiha activated his sharingan. The next few attacks moved even faster. This made it harder for Sasuke to dodge the kunai, he dodged many but there were many others that sunk deep into his skin. More blood was being drawn. It oozed down onto the ground beneath him. Sasuke had collapsed once more with the extra pain added, and of course the pain he had been experiencing before. The feeling had made him nauseous and dizzy. Eventually he had to deactivate his sharingan. He breathed, and snarled through grit teeth, "You're nothing but cowards for hiding in the shadows."

There was a unison of laughter, "How oddly noble for you to say. Uchiha Sasuke wants to fight fairly."

One of them let out a very loud and exasperated sigh, "I think it's about time we finish him."

"Yes," the two other voices spoke together.

Sasuke went to hurry and get up to go hide in the house. He would be safe in there for a moment. His body refused to cooperate however. Not a single muscle wanted to move, making him completely helpless. _Shit_ he bitterly thought in his mind

Of course it was now did the three start to walk into the lighted area. The orange coming off from the flame shimmered along their forms. All three were masked so he couldn't make out the facial details. "Tch, of course." The Uchiha muttered underneath his breath.

They paused in their tracks, and the bodies leaned forward slightly as they looked ready to lunge. The door behind Sasuke swung open. Sakura leaped off from the patio with her leg crashing down onto the ground. She used her chakra send the flow of the cracking ground to erupt underneath the three shinobi. Sakura looked down to Sasuke to see that there were a few kunai stuck in him and he was bleeding. "Sakura, what are you doing?" Sasuke said, with a very slight hint of concern in his voice.

"I am protecting you, what else would I be doing?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw, "They weren't attacking you in the house. I'm sure now they label you in the same level they label me"

Sakura blinked her eyes for a moment. She felt something similar to confusion. It was just she became accustomed to Sasuke's nonchalant behavior in the months they spent together. He was actually voicing a concern for her. It was slightly odd to her. Sakura just furrowed her brow and spoke. "I don't care." She took in a deep breath "We have time before they recover, I'll heal the wounds."

Sakura only had time to pull out one kunai from him and stop the bleeding before the shinobi came back. They were quiet relentless to keep going after Sasuke and Sakura. Even from the little bit she already has done, her lack of sleep was making it difficult for her to concentrate and want to get into the fight. The pink haired kunoichi had to pop up from her kneeling position to block the array of attacks they sent them. It was just one after another, and Sakura only getting a few of her own in there that actually hit.

After about ten minutes, Sakura could barely stand. Her knees were wobbly, eyes ready to fall shut. There was no way her and Sasuke could make it out alive if she stayed to fight. The Uchiha had noticed her stance, the way she was acting, the lack of sleep was just eating her alive at this point. Even Sasuke himself wouldn't want to turn away from a fight and he'd power through it, something inside told him it wasn't the best. A little voice inside of him told him to tell her to stop. "Sakura. . ." he could only muster her name out with a small hint of concern.

All the while the kunoichi was holding one off with what little strength she had left with the kunai in her hand. When the other two shinobi came to attack her or tried to go after Sasuke she would either punch, or kick them away. She was working on getting them a decent distance away from her, because the moment it happened Sakura sprinted towards Sasuke. He was pulled by the wrist and then held into her body. The kunoichi ran away with a barely mobile Uchiha in her arms. This was the last extent of her energy. Of course, as she thought, they were chasing after her so Sakura would just have to lose them and lose them fast.

Three hours into the night, they finally lost the trail of their attackers. It happened more about two hours ago but Sakura wanted to find a refuge for them. They were close to a mountain to Sakura sought out a cave. To which thankfully she could find. Both of them did their best in making themselves comfortable and not long after that did Sasuke and Sakura pass out from being completely exhausted.

* * *

It was well into the afternoon the next day did the kunoichi awaken fully rested. Even the paranoia in her mind could not disturb her slumber. She awoke fresh and ready but sore. The first thing she did when she did wake up though was check up on Sasuke. He had been awake holding onto his slightly bleeding wounds. The kunai had pierced quite deep into Sasuke and it took a little bit longer to heal him. But, she took a step further and began to heal the wounds she had not healed before. Out of reassurance he would not run away on her. Sasuke had stared blankly towards her. "You're completely healing me?" he inquired monotonously.

"Its better you run away and me catching you again, then it is having the same thing happen last night." She responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

Only once did her eyes ease up to kind of catch his stare, but went right back to healing him. Once she was finished, she had let out an exhausted sigh. Using her up what chakra had only come back to her in a good night's rest to heal Sasuke. Slowly she eased up, but her knee joints had seemed to lock up on her and she collapsed to the ground once more. She was stubborn and refused to show any signs of her weakness in front of Sasuke. The pink haired kunoichi should have known by now that it was hard to fool an Uchiha's eyes.

Each movement had seemed like it was isolated. Sasuke typically could not have cared but Sakura had saved him last night. Another thing that has changed from the past and it may have been just slightly ego bruising to him; he couldn't help but be thankful. Sasuke got up and walked next to Sakura, easing her up onto him. One of her arms he wrapped around his shoulder so she could have more support while walking. The woman's head slumped forward. He wondered if she had fallen asleep right then, or she felt some type of shame that he was helping her.

It was hard to tell because her hair had grown quite a bit in pretty much almost, if not the year or more since she has left Konoha. It reached past her shoulders at this point. So it covered her facial expressions up. He eased her up against the wall. "I can go fetch some water, and some things to kindle a fire." He spoke softly. The area they were in was bordering close to Amegakure so the clouds loomed over and there was a chilling breeze in the air. Then being in a cave meant it was much colder.

Sakura's green eyes peered up towards the Uchiha and she blinked. He could see that she possibly doubted his intentions at this point and was probably thinking that he was going to leave. Now that he was all healed up, there was nothing holding him back. While the thought did occur in his thoughts, he couldn't think of at this point leaving her here like this, unable to defend herself. After all what she has done for him. She risked losing everything by up and leaving the village. Her life was on the line as she over all had this hidden agenda the entire time she had decided to stay under the car of Tobi/Madara. Then saving him in several ways, from himself and from being killed, what kind of person would that make him?

Granted, the person he had become was not truly him. The Sasuke before the point of insanity spiraling down into the depths of his own self was still a very noble person. Even once Orochimaru had commented on how he still would not truly kill a single person. The death of his brother and then finding out the truth about his brother had sent him into a very dark place.

Sasuke took a depth breath in and looked back to Sakura. She continued to seem skeptical about it but finally she answered him, "Yeah . . . those things would be nice." Her voice was a little weak.

The Uchiha silently nodded his head before he stood up to walk out of the cave. He turned his head back but he could not see the kunoichi. She would be left to worry over if Sasuke would ever return or not. Her heart sinking in knowing she felt like a sitting duck if the Uchiha did decide to up and leave. The only way she would get rid of these thoughts, for now, would be to close her eyes and just let her mind wander away from itself.

A few hours later, Sasuke had returned with what he said he was going to get plus a little extra. Sakura had not moved a single inch since he has gone. It seemed she had fallen asleep when he left. "Sakura," he spoke, his voice loud enough to probably make her stir.

There was no response, and the dark made it difficult to see. There wasn't much movement from her body at all. "Sakura" he said her name again.

Still, there was nothing. He wondered if . . . if she could have passed due to all the exhaustion? Though that was a farfetched thought, the Uchiha cautiously reached his hand out to gently touch her face. Her skin was still warm.

He quickly pulled his arm back, realizing how much it was shaking. Simply checking on her well being felt incredibly odd to him and it dawned on him how long it had been since he actually felt concern for somebody. Something long ago he had come to terms with before he left the village. It was the reason why he had left in the first place, because it drove him off of the path that he needed to be on in order to get what he wanted. Now to see where it has lead him, he wasn't so sure that it may have been the right choice at all.

"Sakura." He once more called out for her, to see now she was finally stirring.

Her eyes blinked open to see Sasuke there in front of her. It was something she did not expect. He came back. The Uchiha handed her a canteen of water to which she gladly took. "Thank you." She said.

"Didn't think you'd get your water, did you?" his charcoal eyes wandered over to the side to stare at the cave floor.

"Not . . . really." She was slow to confess.

Sasuke continued to look away; he felt a subtle smirk spread across his face. He certainly didn't think it'd be visible even if there was lighter in the cave. As he stood up to go start the fire to get some warmth inside of cave, Sakura's voice had broke the bit of silence that had been occurring between them. "Why." She simply questioned.

He didn't need to ask her exactly what she was questioning him about. Sasuke had figured what she was talking about. To be honest, he actually had to take a moment to think of why he decided to come back when he knew he so easily could have left. He thought about, and thought about it… the reason became clear to him. It was something he would not want to admit though. He could not have left her in here all alone in the condition she was in. This was the same exact thing that ran through his head earlier before he left. "I don't know." He responded simply to her.

Though he could not really see her staring, the feeling of her gaze was set on him. He slightly turned his head to look back at her. The fire was burning now and the slight orange glow that now tinted the cave, he could make out the details of her. It seemed as if she could not quite comprehend the answer he had given her. Leaving Sasuke and Sakura in complete silence once again as the young man kindled the fire to make it burn brighter, and of course to put the fish he had caught for the both of them to eat.

Sakura may have felt better rested but she spent a lot of chakra healing Sasuke completely. The pink haired kunoichi overall just felt completely relieved. Especially since Sasuke did not leave her here all alone. It may not have shown very well on her face but slowly Sakura was picking up the pieces of her emotions and feelings, but the process could take forever. At one point this past year, she had been completely broken down into nothing. Wouldn't anyone else break down too, and just shed every ounce of emotion because all it ever did was get in the way? Such was the truth life of a shinobi.

One could only wonder what the future was going to hold for them at this point.


End file.
